Today, like any third Monday in January, is Martin Luther King Day, a day in which people are given a day off in remembrance of Dr. King's life and legacy. Did I just say "a day given off in remembrance"? Only a naive person would say that. Some people have the day off, others don't. I, like anyone else, enjoys a day off. However, many people simply enjoy the day off, playing their PlayStations, and not giving a moment's hesitation for what Dr. King died for.
That type of apathy is why we are not living in Martin Luther King's dream, but still living in a nightmare. People can say that we have made a lot of progress, but there is still plenty of work to be made. Blacks are still being prosecuted wrongfully because of their race. Blacks still are riddled with racial slurs. Would this be anything remotely close to Dr. King's dream?
One of Dr. King's dreams was to take us to the Promised Land. I want everyone reading this post to ask themselves if we are in the Promised Land. And if not, why not? It has been 40 years since Dr. King was assassinated. I am not saying that we can get rid of stereotypes entirely, because that is impossible. What I am saying is that there is room for improvement. Just because people will always have their impulses, does that mean we can have corrupt impulses in our judicial systems?
I cannot speak for a Black man because I am not one. However, one of my good friends has had to deal with the unbearable hardships of being a Black man. He has told me several disturbing things. He's had women clutch their purses when he walks by them. He's had a white cab driver call him the n-word. That, coupled with Michael Richards racially-insensitive comments and Don Imus' racial epithets, is horrific. People like to think it's all right, looking at the success of people like Oprah and Michael Jordan. It's not okay. If people continue to let this slip through the cracks, history will only repeat itself.
Not only has the message of Dr. King been ignored, it has also been spurned. At first, the government refused to acknowledge Dr. King's birthday. It was not until May 2, 2000, that South Carolina made Dr. King's birthday an official state holiday. The problem goes much deeper with that. Where people saw nonviolence, others saw Marxism. A perfect example of this was Senator Jesse Helms, who led opposition to making Dr. King's birthday a national holiday. He criticized Dr. King's opposition to the Vietnam War and accused him of espousing "action-oriented Marxism."
Americans need to realize the truth. We are refusing to live the dream, and choosing to be stuck in a nightmare. Why did people refuse to bail out the victims of Jena, Louisiana's judicial systems. Why was the genocide in Rwanda unnoticed by the Western World? This is choosing not to intervene. Americans need to stand up and fight for what Dr. King stood for. Because we are what's left of him.
Happy birthday Dr. King. You have been a great influence on all of us.
Quote of the Day: "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of the social uplift is approaching spiritual doom." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Influential Video of the Day: Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" Speech
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