“I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of “interposition” and “nullification” — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (August 28, 1963)
Reflecting on the “I Have a Dream” speech, given by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in August of 1963, makes a person wonder what he would think of the race baiting that is going on today, in the United States of America. Would he have supported Al Sharpton and the others who called for the death of George Zimmerman, and Mr. Obama’s “If I had a son he would look like Travon”? Or would he have asked people to stay calm and let justice take its course. Would he have supported those who riot when police officers shoot a black person (whether it is justifiable or not) or would he, like the mother of a man wrongly killed by the police, ask the people to “Please, stop the killing”?
It only takes a couple minutes of research to find the answer to these questions. Dr. King did not support such violence as a means to the fulfillment of his dream. From the same speech comes this quote:
“But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
“The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.”
It is quite clear from this passage that Dr. King would be greatly disappointed in the conduct of certain very prominent persons and the media.
I share the dream of Dr. King. I pray for the day when all people of all races see each other as equals, with none entitled to any privilege not available to others. Prejudice comes from all sides and until we all put aside our mistrust it will remain with us. As a child I had no knowledge of racism, my dad was in the Air Force and it was not tolerated. Black children just had a better tan than I did, they were neither less than nor more than I. This is still the belief I hold and I have a dream that one day it will be the reality for all.
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“I am afraid that there is a certain class of race-problem solvers who don’t want the patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make themselves prominent before the public.”-Booker T. Washington
I’ve said for the past several years that Dr. King would be very disappointed in the way people these days are acting. Just as there are a lot of blacks these days that are disappointed in the way their people are acting. It’s truly a disgrace, that people like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Eric Holder, & even our own president continue to promote violence. When there is a TRUE case racial discrimination, then it SHOULD be addressed, & handled in the legal way, & done away with. And, there are a lot of liberal blacks who are also against all the violence that is spreading. And, it’s being done by YOUNG people who have NO idea of what they are actually doing. Yes, there are WHITE racists, just as there are Democrat racists, Republican racists, etc. Racism can come in any form, but just because one person in a particular group is racist, doesn’t mean that we all are. I have always believed that Dr. King was assassinated because of the positive Godly influence he had, not only on his race, but on a lot of the white race also. He was a man of God above all else, & a human & a black man secondly. I remember the horror of some of the things done during the civil rights movement, & can understand the resentment some have toward others. But, that was in the past, & cannot be undone, & anything that is done now for revenge is just nothing more than reverse racism, & evil.