Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – The Dream Remains a Dream

Last year at this time, I wrote what was arguably the most challenging, controversial entry ever made on this blog. The entry entitled “Martin Luther King Day is Not My Holiday” was greeted with such hostility from the African-American community across the blogosphere. The intent of that entry was, indeed, to rile some feathers and force people to think.

You see, Martin Luther King, Jr. day has become a bit like Christmas — something everyone likes to celebrate but the object of such celebration being lost on the masses. MLK was a great man. To that honor, I whole heartedly agree. I think that tremendous value was placed on his life and message in the only way a government can really bestow honor – declaring a national holiday.

King preached a message for the ages, for the races – all races. While most people remember the “I have a dream” speech for that line and the ensuing quotes, Dr. King said so much more in that speech that is often ignored by today’s version of the “civil rights movement” and indeed, most of America.

It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. And those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. And there will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

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.

You see, my friends, the dream is still just that: a dream. Dr. King’s dream was for harmony with the white man. It was for equality for all of mankind. It was peace and justice. It was for non-violence. It was for an intelligent coup de force of societal ill-concieved mentality. Unfortunately, the dream is still a dream.

Today’s civil rights movement has moved from an embracing, integrative process that Dr. King preached to a segregationist hatred black against white; Mexican against black; white against middle eastern. This is the fraud of civil rights. We’d be better off dividing the country into fiefdoms where one nationality remains and thrives. Maybe give Texas and Southern California back to Mexico. Louisiana might as well be French. Miami can go to the Cubans. Metropolitan D.C. can be annexxed by Nigeria.

Absurdity? Perhaps, but I’m, frankly, tired of celebrating holidays for reasons that are lost on the culture. If we’re going to have a Martin Luther King day, let’s honor his legacy and seek to equally, and without judgement embrace each other and make this nation a stronger nation by complementing the strengths and weaknesses of each other. If we’re going to celebrate Christmas, let’s read the Christmas story from the Bible before opening gifts and remember why we celebrate it in the first place. If we’re going to cook out for the first big barbecue of summer on Memorial Day, let’s actually remember who we are memorializing.

Holidays are meant to be times to remember, not simply reflect. MLK’s message is critical to remember and embrace… white and black; latino and asian; Jew and Gentile.

Tagged as: holidays