Fifty Years After I Have a Dream
America has a sordid history in race relations. Anyone who denies it doesn’t read the history
books. Slavery was real. For those of us who live in the north…like
northeast Ohio…slavery was just thirty miles down Route 11 across the
river. We may be distanced by time, but
not space. Even during the Civil War,
slavery continued in upstart border state West Virginia until the war was
over. It was not isolated to the deep south.
Moving forward, one bumps into reconstruction, Jim Crow
laws, institutionalized segregation, poll taxes and literacy tests…and scarier,
the KKK and lynching. Up in the smug
north, de-facto segregation took root with red lining, segregated neighborhoods
leading to segregated schools, and job discrimination. It wasn’t pretty.
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the
famous and infamous March on Washington and Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream”
speech. There were many people back in
the day who disagreed with what he had to say. He was watched by the FBI as an agitator and
disdained by a nation tainted with racism and prejudices. The remedies implemented by the courts were
forced down America’s throat. Things
like forced bussing and affirmative action were opposed by a majority of the
nation. Troops marched into Selma and
Little Rock. People died asking for even
the most fundamental of rights…the right to vote. Our views are always formed
by the times in which we lived.
Thankfully things have changed. King’s speech has earned the right to be
considered one of the great statements of American principles and values along
with such masterpieces as the Gettysburg address and Roosevelt’s “fear itself”
speech. Eloquent and simple, he said we
need to live together in peace where everyone is treated equal regardless of
race, color, or creed. I doubt he
imagined in 1963 that within forty five years we would have an African-American
President. Whether one agrees with
Barack Obama politically is irrelevant.
His election marks a milestone in racial progress in this country.
But there is still a long way to go with an entirely
different set of problems.
Unfortunately, those problems are going to have to be addressed from
within the African American community.
Beginning with the War on Poverty in the mid 1960’s, America has spent
trillions of dollars on attempting to help the poor, and more specifically providing
opportunities to people of color. It has
been less than a stellar success. Across
all races, the percentage of Americans living in poverty is higher
than it has ever been. The war, for all intents and purposes, has been
lost. That doesn’t mean battles haven't been won along the way. The minority middle class has increased dramatically, especially in the South. Minorities have finally followed the
traditional path of all immigrants assimilating into society by first entering
law enforcement then into politics.
Affirmative action has increased the number of minorities receiving a
good college level education. While
barriers are still there for minorities to enter the mainstream of American
economic life, it is better.
But the paternalistic approach taken by the government in various aid programs has created a growing dependent class among all races,
and it is destroying the nation. Worse,
it has destroyed families. Beginning
with the original Aid to Dependent Children…the overt policy of paying mothers
more money for more children while forcing fathers out of the home has
destroyed the African American family. Although that specific program has been
reformed, in totality that is still how it works. In addition, the financial and political
interests of those running the programs have prevented true
reform. Race baiters and politicians
looking for votes are served by keeping a permanently dependent class,
trading votes for a cell phone. It has
been referred to as the New Plantation.
This environment has fueled a generation of males who do not have jobs or education or any concept of how to be a father; a generation of males that is either dead or incarcerated. Black on black violence is rampant, and
continues to be fed by a ruthless entertainment industry and government policy that
feeds off of the current situation. It
is tragic in every sense of the word.
The people are suffering while the politicians consolidate power and the
gangsta hip-hop moguls get rich. They should be ashamed.
Now the violence has spilled out into the white community
with several well publicized incidents of black teenagers assaulting and
killing whites walking in the park or riding a bus or out for a jog or going to play pool. This raises the question are whites
justifiably frightened of black men? Do
these incidents vindicate the actions of George Zimmerman killing an unarmed
African American teenager returning home from a convenience store? Should we be afraid of anyone wearing a hoodie? Pretending violence doesn't effect perceptions among groups of people is politically correct tom-foolery. Of course it does. Until we admit it, it will never get better.
I don’t think thuggery was Martin Luther King’s
dream. Minorities have always had a
difficult time in the United States, but eventually hard work prevails. Human beings will always have prejudice
against those who are different. It’s human nature. Denying it doesn't make it go away. But that doesn’t
mean we can’t respect each other and each other’s right to pursue life, liberty
and pursuit of happiness. It doesn't mean we all shouldn't have equal opportunity. It doesn't mean we shouldn't judge people by their character rather than the color of their skin. We need to
discuss these issues freely without fear of being branded racist by an
unforgiving media and politically correct thugs. Solutions will not come from the government
which is incapable of solving the human condition. These solutions have to come from within each
and every one of us.
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