"I
have a dream, that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true
meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal."
~ Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.
On August 28th 1963, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. told us he had a dream; a dream that one day ‘ones race’ would not matter, and that we would live out the true meaning of our nations creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."
Full speech here: http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkihaveadream.htm
As we honor Martin Luther King Jrs’ 83rd birthday, I am contemplating his ‘prophetic dream’ and the creed, by which he called on us to ‘live out.’
If we truly ‘lived out’ this self evident truth, that all men (and women) are created equal, it would mean that ‘ones race’ would no longer be a measurement of a person’s dignity and worth. It would also mean that 'pigment,' does not give us, ‘rights;’ instead, our 'rights,' come from God.
The whole concept of ‘race,’ would be exposed as the fraud it is. 'Race' would be rendered insignificant, and of no use in the daily discourse of a free nation. This was the prophetic essence of Reverend King’s dream; the invalidation of ‘race’ as a measurement of a person’s worth.
Our generation has a responsibility to confront the great moral questions of our day. And the question of ‘race’ and its significance continues to be our cultures obsession; why?
There are two polar beliefs that are coursing its way through our cultures discourse; either ‘race’ matters, and is an essential part in measuring a persons’ worth, or ‘race does not matter, and is irrelevant to a person’s worth.
Martin Luther King Jr. waged his ‘civil rights’ moral fight against the belief that ‘race’ matters. At that time, the ‘white race’ mattered, and because it mattered, it was legitimized.
This legitimization, brought with it ominous manifestations, such as segregation; Jim Crow laws; a ‘racist’ narrative of white privilege and power, insidious ‘norms’ which engendered racism, and gave credence to this evil belief, that one’s ‘race’ deemed them superior or inferior.
When the civil rights laws were inked, in the blood of Martin Luther King Jr., and millions of other non-violent warriors, this fraudulent belief was reckoned illegitimate.
But this belief did not die; the fight continues today.
If our generation continues down this ‘archaic and in-humane path, that ‘race matters,’ then we will be threatened with its odious manifestations; such as 'racist identity groups ;' accusations of racism; the ‘race card, and a constant drip-drip-drip of racial fixation, in every social and political conversation; which leads to ‘race fatigue.’
But if our starting point is that ‘race’ does not matter, then we will come to see it for what it truly is; that ‘race’ is a social and political construct, used to exploit one group of people over another.
Our choice will determine what kind of people we will be. We will either be a people of the ‘dream’ and carry on Reverend King’s legacy, which is to ‘live out’ the self evident truth, that all people are created equal.
Or we will be a ‘race obsessed’ people where some people are more equal than others, depending on our pigment.
Will we live the dream and be free or we will die in our race obsessed nightmare.
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