Today,
during Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday, one part of the man’s legacy
that will be most honored is his famous “I Have A Dream" speech,
delivered 28 August 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., In
that speech King said, “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.”
But, as we listen to all the accolades given to Dr. King, we might ask ourselves, how many of those who tout his Dream, which describes the true answer to racism, actually practice it?
When witnesses of various races in Ferguson, Missouri, testified that black teenager Michael Brown did indeed rob a store, assault a clerk, try to wrest the gun from the police officer who tried to hold him accountable, and finally attack that officer in an apparent attempt to overpower him, rioters and their supporters, which included the mainstream media, all sorts of celebrities, and race baiters like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson demanded that Brown not be judged by concrete evidence of the quality of his character but that the color of his skin made him immune to such judgment. Furthermore, they declared that anyone who tried to apply such judgment (in effect, applying King’s Dream) was a racist.
But, as we listen to all the accolades given to Dr. King, we might ask ourselves, how many of those who tout his Dream, which describes the true answer to racism, actually practice it?
When witnesses of various races in Ferguson, Missouri, testified that black teenager Michael Brown did indeed rob a store, assault a clerk, try to wrest the gun from the police officer who tried to hold him accountable, and finally attack that officer in an apparent attempt to overpower him, rioters and their supporters, which included the mainstream media, all sorts of celebrities, and race baiters like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson demanded that Brown not be judged by concrete evidence of the quality of his character but that the color of his skin made him immune to such judgment. Furthermore, they declared that anyone who tried to apply such judgment (in effect, applying King’s Dream) was a racist.
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