*originally published Jan.2009
AFTER THE DREAM: Excelling while awake
In a nation with a history steeped in segregation and discrimination, the election of our countrys first African-American President can be likened to the final triumph over everything thats wrong with the us, and a shining example of everything thats right. The next logical and perhaps inevitable question that has followed has been, Has the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. longed for finally been achieved? In many ways, the answer to that question is no.
The comparisons between Barack Obama and Dr. King have been bountiful; yet for the most part, none have thought to question the legitimacy of linking the two together. The comparison itself is dead on, however the reasons we must compare the two have escaped most peoples consciousness. To declare the dream fulfilled because we have finally elected a black man to be our leader, is oversimplifying the dream and the consequential mission that MLK undertook to achieve it.
America has become notorious for the commercialization of things once collectively held dear to us. Christmas is now a celebration of overspending and indulgence. Thanksgiving has become a time to give thanks for the abundance of store sales, and every January we get an extra Monday off in remembrance of Dr. Kings birthday. But just what do we remember? Dwindling is the number of those who actually marched with him. Actually heard him speak. So I ask again, just what do we remember? Every year the media dusts off versions of his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. Given on August 28, 1963, he was not assassinated until 1968. His legacy should give reverence not to a speech in which he envisioned racial harmony, but in the work he continued up to his death in an effort to promote not just racial equality, but economic equality for all.
The media has all but written off the last years of his life, or perhaps they have simply chosen to forget that in his last days Dr. King had come under scrutiny and scorn for his beliefs. In 1967 he gave a scathing condemnation of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The backlash was reminiscent to that received by those who voiced concern and criticism of the Iraq War post 9-11. King consequently lost the support of both blacks, (who felt time would better be spent worrying about the domestic issues they faced every day), and whites, including then President Lyndon B. Johnson, who lamented, “What is that goddamn nigger preacher trying to do to me?” It seemed that many felt that he had overstepped his bounds; and should have “stayed in his place” and focused solely on civil rights, not international issues.
However King was adamant in his staunch opposition to the war, retorting “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government.” In offering another comparison between Dr. King and Obama it should be noted that Obama has also spoken out not only in criticism of the mismanagement and lack of justification of the Iraq War, but also the inhumane acts perpetrated by our own government within Guatanamo Bay.
It seemed King had become disillusioned. Not with his dream of equality, but in the means in which it could truly be accomplished. The mid-60′s saw the passing of major civil rights reforms, and yet even after laws were rewritten and integration had been forced, American racism simply learned to reassert itself in less overt ways. What good was an integrated lunch stand if many minorities were still too poor to actually dine there? Thus a shift in policy was made. Named “Phase Two”, the focus shifted to the larger underlying issue, creating economic equality for all. You can liberate a people, but without the financial tools to stand on their own feet and have access to the same economic windfalls as everyone else, they are doomed to remain in poverty, and thus fail.
In his 1967 book titled “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community”, he shifts focus from the initial rights gained from the civil rights movement, to the steps that must further be taken to fully catapult minorities to equal footing. In one part he stated “The discount education given Negroes will in the future have to be purchased at full price if quality education is to be realized. Jobs are harder and costlier to create than voting rolls. The eradication of slums housing millions is complex far beyond integrating buses and lunch counters.” The riots and frustration, coupled with cries for “Black Power” were the result of this economic disparity. Long gone were the days of peaceful marches, and in his last years the same people he sought to uplift sometimes booed his speeches. Many blacks appreciated the laws that had been passed to aid their cause, but felt them to be hollow promises, because they were still being dominated by being kept in sub par economic conditions. They were tired of waiting for change to come.
Today the cries of Black Power have been replaced with “My President is Black!” Though many in mainstream America have been quick to denounce such statements, it should be noted that this is simply an extension of the frustrations Dr. King spoke about. Economic segregation is still evident within neighborhoods and schools across the nation, so many minorities feel an African-American president is justification for all that they have endured.
However; this is larger than a racial issue. As King also stated in his book, “There is no separate Black path to power and fulfillment that does not intersect white paths, and there is no separate white path to power and fulfillment, short of social disaster, that does not share that power with Black aspirations for freedom and human dignity. We are bound together in a single garment of destiny.” Thus proof of the greatest comparison that can be made between him and President Obama. The dream has not been fulfilled with the election of a black president; rather, its fulfillment has begun in electing a man who thinks like King. Who, like King, denounces a government when it partakes in inhumane international atrocities like those we have seen in the Middle East. Who transcends race, and has an eye on the greater goal, securing economic equality for all Americans.
So honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, not for the words of a speech, but for the actions he lived and died for in an effort to see his words prove prophetic. Rejoice in our president, not because he is black, but because he shares King’s convictions, and now has the power to turn a dream into a living reality.
A Look Back at: Assessing the Dream…
*originally published Jan.2009
AFTER THE DREAM: Excelling while awake
In a nation with a history steeped in segregation and discrimination, the election of our countrys first African-American President can be likened to the final triumph over everything thats wrong with the us, and a shining example of everything thats right. The next logical and perhaps inevitable question that has followed has been, Has the dream that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. longed for finally been achieved? In many ways, the answer to that question is no.
The comparisons between Barack Obama and Dr. King have been bountiful; yet for the most part, none have thought to question the legitimacy of linking the two together. The comparison itself is dead on, however the reasons we must compare the two have escaped most peoples consciousness. To declare the dream fulfilled because we have finally elected a black man to be our leader, is oversimplifying the dream and the consequential mission that MLK undertook to achieve it.
America has become notorious for the commercialization of things once collectively held dear to us. Christmas is now a celebration of overspending and indulgence. Thanksgiving has become a time to give thanks for the abundance of store sales, and every January we get an extra Monday off in remembrance of Dr. Kings birthday. But just what do we remember? Dwindling is the number of those who actually marched with him. Actually heard him speak. So I ask again, just what do we remember? Every year the media dusts off versions of his famous “I Have A Dream” speech. Given on August 28, 1963, he was not assassinated until 1968. His legacy should give reverence not to a speech in which he envisioned racial harmony, but in the work he continued up to his death in an effort to promote not just racial equality, but economic equality for all.
The media has all but written off the last years of his life, or perhaps they have simply chosen to forget that in his last days Dr. King had come under scrutiny and scorn for his beliefs. In 1967 he gave a scathing condemnation of America’s involvement in the Vietnam War. The backlash was reminiscent to that received by those who voiced concern and criticism of the Iraq War post 9-11. King consequently lost the support of both blacks, (who felt time would better be spent worrying about the domestic issues they faced every day), and whites, including then President Lyndon B. Johnson, who lamented, “What is that goddamn nigger preacher trying to do to me?” It seemed that many felt that he had overstepped his bounds; and should have “stayed in his place” and focused solely on civil rights, not international issues.
However King was adamant in his staunch opposition to the war, retorting “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government.” In offering another comparison between Dr. King and Obama it should be noted that Obama has also spoken out not only in criticism of the mismanagement and lack of justification of the Iraq War, but also the inhumane acts perpetrated by our own government within Guatanamo Bay.
It seemed King had become disillusioned. Not with his dream of equality, but in the means in which it could truly be accomplished. The mid-60′s saw the passing of major civil rights reforms, and yet even after laws were rewritten and integration had been forced, American racism simply learned to reassert itself in less overt ways. What good was an integrated lunch stand if many minorities were still too poor to actually dine there? Thus a shift in policy was made. Named “Phase Two”, the focus shifted to the larger underlying issue, creating economic equality for all. You can liberate a people, but without the financial tools to stand on their own feet and have access to the same economic windfalls as everyone else, they are doomed to remain in poverty, and thus fail.
In his 1967 book titled “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community”, he shifts focus from the initial rights gained from the civil rights movement, to the steps that must further be taken to fully catapult minorities to equal footing. In one part he stated “The discount education given Negroes will in the future have to be purchased at full price if quality education is to be realized. Jobs are harder and costlier to create than voting rolls. The eradication of slums housing millions is complex far beyond integrating buses and lunch counters.” The riots and frustration, coupled with cries for “Black Power” were the result of this economic disparity. Long gone were the days of peaceful marches, and in his last years the same people he sought to uplift sometimes booed his speeches. Many blacks appreciated the laws that had been passed to aid their cause, but felt them to be hollow promises, because they were still being dominated by being kept in sub par economic conditions. They were tired of waiting for change to come.
Today the cries of Black Power have been replaced with “My President is Black!” Though many in mainstream America have been quick to denounce such statements, it should be noted that this is simply an extension of the frustrations Dr. King spoke about. Economic segregation is still evident within neighborhoods and schools across the nation, so many minorities feel an African-American president is justification for all that they have endured.
However; this is larger than a racial issue. As King also stated in his book, “There is no separate Black path to power and fulfillment that does not intersect white paths, and there is no separate white path to power and fulfillment, short of social disaster, that does not share that power with Black aspirations for freedom and human dignity. We are bound together in a single garment of destiny.” Thus proof of the greatest comparison that can be made between him and President Obama. The dream has not been fulfilled with the election of a black president; rather, its fulfillment has begun in electing a man who thinks like King. Who, like King, denounces a government when it partakes in inhumane international atrocities like those we have seen in the Middle East. Who transcends race, and has an eye on the greater goal, securing economic equality for all Americans.
So honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, not for the words of a speech, but for the actions he lived and died for in an effort to see his words prove prophetic. Rejoice in our president, not because he is black, but because he shares King’s convictions, and now has the power to turn a dream into a living reality.