Monday, January 17, 2011

Thoughts on a Dream

As of the time that I have started writing this, there is about two hours left in Martin Luther King Day. I shall admit that I almost never give this day any more thought than as, say a day off from work. However for lack of anything else to write about at the moment, I have chosen to write about this.
Dr. King’s message of equality and peace was at it’s time a very radical one. It is very hard to imagine that there was a time when African Americans were not even allowed into dining rooms, drink from the same fountains or even use the same bathroom. Furthermore, this was considered by something people to be not only acceptable, but right and even God-ordained. It took courageous men like King to stand up to such injustices and make equality a reality in this country. Barrak Obama’s historic presidency is a sign of how far we have come. Despite not agreeing with a lot of his politics, I consider the fact that we now have a black President to be something of which this country should be proud.
That being said one must be forced to acknowledge that we have hardly achieved prefect equality and that in many ways Dr. King’s Dream has yet to be realized. The legacy of over three hundred years of racism still persists and less settle forms of racism and discrimination can be found. Sadly, one should say that the bigots in this world have become more subtle these days. Do not think, even for a second that much of the ire that has been directed at Obama by the hard right in this country is not due to the fact that he is Black. When I first heard all this “birther” nonsense, along the Muslim rumors that came before it, I knew that that was what it was all code for. Because of this, one must say that I have begun to question my political allegiances.
That being said, I have always believed in the inherit goodness of people. As such, I am more inclined to believe that we are now much closer to the goal that we are to where we started. Hopefully we shall continue to make progress, and that King’s dream shall soon become a reality.

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