"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."Here are some links to learn about Marting Luther King, Jr. and his inspirational legacy of promoting non-violence and racial equality. A poignant example of how philosophy impacts lives.
Wikipedia Entry
The King Center
As I'm sure Dr. King would agree, it is not merely one man's memory that is important, as we are all simply human and imperfect. But what is important is that such lives and such holidays present the opportunity to reflect upon these timeless values and goals.
Dr. King's speech was timeless indeed and holds grand dreams for the future. There is a great flaw in his thought however. In his speech, near the end, he speaks of everyone joining hands and singing the "african american" gospel song Free at Last. Perhaps it is merely semantics, but unless you are someone who has recently immigrated to the United States from Africa, you are NOT an African American; you are just a plain old American. This is no different than the fact that my family immigrated to the United States from Germany proir to World War One, yet I am not a German American. I am just a plain old American. Is it a color thing? Is it because my skin happens to be white that i do not feel the need to attach an identifier relating to my country of origin? Dr. King really could have said it for all time if he had left out the line about the gospel song. There will never be equality, not for anyone. Racial bias will live on, practiced by each ethnic group against each other ethic group, until one day we understand the defining factor. Equailty comes when we judge a man by the content of his character; equality comes when we no longer feel the need to attach an ethnic label to ourselves. Until such a time that NO MAN feels the need to attach such a label, there will be no fullfilment of Dr. King's dream.
ReplyDeleteI'm reminded by your comments of something I saw on a morning news program. The question to the audience was, "has MLK's dream been realized?" and one emailer responded, "the day it's been realized is the day we no longer feel the need to keep asking the question".
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