Icons of American History: Martin Luther King Jr.
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
This past Monday was the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday as a national holiday. The only question was why it took that long. Doctor Kingis contribution to our society places him on a level equal to, if not greater than, the founding fathers of this democracy, for it was he who forced us to recognize that although the Constitution promised equality, equality had not been acheived.Dr.King could very simply have been ignored by white society as just another black man unhappy with his lot in life. In fact, despite his acheivements, many african-american are viewed as such by a white majority still shaded by ingrained racist tendencies. It was his brilliance and spiritual insight that allowed him to see that it is not just the african-american community that is affected adversely by a continuation of racist policies and attitudes. It is every person who desires freedom and considers it near and dear to their hearts, for if any one of us is not free, then none of us are.
As long as we allow ourselves to make judgements based on arbitrary qualifications like race, religion or even sexual orientation, the promise of freedom and equality set down in the Declaration of Independence and theConstitution become just more empty and hollow words. In an era where fear and ingorance have allowed our government to run roughshod over our liberties and the same forces who fought to maintain the status quo of segregation and racism are now attempting to hijack the very mechanisms of our democracy for their own ends, it is more important than ever to remember Dr. King and his dream.
