Well put, Chief. I think racial prejudice is built into human nature and will never totally disappear - in any country. I am actually gratified that MLK Day is a national holiday at all. In the last presidential election, I fully expected the actual vote for Obama to be less than what people said in the polls - because some people would not vote for a black candidate but did not want to admit to that when asked. I was pleasantly surprised that the polls turned out to be accurate.
I am old enough to remember the “bad old days” and look at this day differently than many others do. MLK Day really has not caught on, and that is because is dream is not fully realized. Don’t get me wrong, today is imminently better than it was when I was a kid. Nowadays, intolerance is not tolerated. A Senator is in trouble for using the word “Negro.” Heck, when I was a teen, anyone who used that word was called a flaming liberal and probably a Communist to boot. The word used by most then started with the same letter.
Make no mistake, the Civil Rights Movement was a war, and one that was fought with bloody battles. It was a war that made this country finally live up to its founding documents and beliefs. Nonetheless, there are still skirmishes and will be until my generation, and my children’s generation is laid in the grave.
My granddaughter just turned five, and my dream is that when taking US History, she has a real problem trying to understand the why things were that way. That judging people by the color of their skin is just an alien concept.
Take a moment this day, and realize that many people believed in the greatness of this country and were willing to fight for it. Among those I include Dr. King. And for those who say one person cannot make a difference, then I give you Rosa Parks.
Hobbyist Blogs Home
