1-20-14 A NATIONAL HOLIDAY February 20th
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Those views hint at a stubborn
perception gap, in which a majority of blacks cite discrimination as a
roadblock to success in the US while whites, by an equally large margin,
believe that blacks seldom, if at all, experience bias.
But in a common perception
that links to King’s insistence that blacks bear responsibility for their
situation, a majority of both races say African-Americans who don’t get ahead
have primarily themselves, not discrimination, to blame. Moreover, some
Americans perceive, rightly or wrongly, that Obama emphasizes King's calls for
"societal responsibility" in redressing racial discrimination over
King's point that individuals bear personal responsibility for ameliorating
such bias, as a function of God-given "natural law." They worry that
such an emphasis leads to an over reliance on government to fix everyone's
problems and consequently, an oversized government. Indeed, the debate over
striking the right balance between societal and individual responsibility is
playing out today in issues ranging from gay marriage to tax policy concerning
whether to raise taxes on the rich or cut spending on programs for the poor. It
is old, troublesome, and informs the ideals of America, irrevocably volatile,
natural law may equally encompass King’s appeal to God-given rights and natural
born equality as well as various scriptural illiberalism’s, including the
notion that marriage is ‘naturally’ about one man and one woman.
More troubling, perhaps, on the day of
Obama’s inauguration is that a majority of black Americans remain skeptical
about whether King’s dream can actually be realized in the US. After Obama's
first election in 2008, there was a spike in the share of blacks who said that
equality had already been achieved. But that perception has faded in the dark
economic days that have followed. Today, more than half of all US blacks again
don’t believe that racial equality has, or will be, achieved. “The combination
of blocked roads to social mobility, continuing economic crisis, the near
unanimous belief among blacks that racism remains a major problem in the United
States, and the consequent widespread and growing despair about the prospects
for racial equality provide the grounds, if not the inevitability, for an ever
more volatile and conflicted racial landscape,” Michael Dawson, director of the
Center for the Study of Race, Politics and Culture in Chicago, wrote in The New
York Times last year.
Yet other experts suggest that younger
generations are wearing down those lingering malignancies. Social historians
point to younger Americans, especially those under 40, as pivotal to the
nation’s social justice reforms around race and other hot-button issues,
including gay marriage and drug criminalization. That would include the
generation that came of age in integrated public schools, a dream that King saw
realized before his death.
"This generation that is rising is
the most diverse we have ever had in this country," NAACP President Ben
Jealous told ABC News this week. "It's also the most inherently inclusive
and the most embracing of racial and gender equality. It's in their DNA."
How
far is America along road to the 'dream'? Problems that disproportionately
beset black Americans poverty, broken families, and prison time have barely
nudged during the Obama administration. But Martin Luther King Day is also an
occasion to recognize progress for the black community. Atlanta President Obama
began his second presidential term on Monday by laying his hand upon two
Bibles: One was used by Abraham Lincoln; the other belonged to the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr., the “traveling" Bible that the civil rights leader
carried on marches.
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dissatisfaction
Those two volumes are symbolic bookends
to America’s past 150 years, especially when combined with Mr. Obama’s own
achievement as the first African-American president of a former slave nation.
But if Lincoln helped America correct its course by emancipating the slaves,
it’s Dr. King’s “dream” of equal rights and a color-blind society that seems
more fundamental today – Martin Luther King Day – as America's first black
president begins another four years at the helm of the world’s most powerful
republic.
To be sure, Obama has had to carry the
burden of black America’s continuing problems, and his legacy may yet be
tainted by the economic malaise that has idled nearly one-quarter of all
able-bodied black workers – an unemployment rate twice that of white America.
Other problems that disproportionately beset the African-American community –
poverty, broken families, and high incarceration rates – have also barely
nudged under Obama. And in some political quarters, racial tensions have ticked
up under Obama. Yet as Americans take stock of the moment, the change that has
swept across the country in the four decades since the onset of the civil
rights movement is stunning and a testament to an inherent American goodness
that King recognized and reinforced in his speeches and marches.
“We are far from achieving the
perfection of Dr. King’s ‘Dream’ but that is no reason to ignore how far we
have come,” writes Fox News contributor and Washington media veteran Juan
Williams, who is black. “Even now, as we see shifting demographics seeding
racial tension in some precincts, the country is still moving forward. The
United States is a good country. This nation still labors to achieve the vision
of Dr. King and President Reagan – the shining city on a hill.”
Ronald Reagan signed legislation establishing
Martin Luther King Day as a federal holiday in 1983, a moment when many people
came to recognize King as a pivotal and aspirational figure for all of America,
not just as a leader of blacks who championed their civil rights. King, whose
words in the inspirational “I have a dream” speech and the philosophical
“Letter from a Birmingham Jail” lifted up a nation, was assassinated in
Memphis, Tenn., on April 4, 1968.
To be continued…
Epilog To
Martin Looter King
January 20, 2014 Hat off! …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Along. the street there comes a blare of bugles,
A ruffle of drums, and a flash of color
beneath the sky: Blue crimson and white it shines, over the
straight marching lines The
flag is passing by signifying the land fights, the ocean fights, the grim and
great . Fought to save the Nation.
Weary marches and sinking ships, cheers of victory on dying lips. Hats off! The American Flag is
passing by.
You are so grand in every fold,
linked with mighty deeds of old. Steeped in blood where heroes
fell, torn and pierced by shot and shell Hats off! Throats swell at the sight of you, the flag is
passing by. Days of glory T ears of war, keeps our Nation, great and strong, warding off dictators. Pride, glory, Honor, in
the colors stand or fall. Salute the flag as it floats on by. Hats off! The American Flag is passing
by.
Hats off! Streaming a loft in
the clear, blue sky, rippling, easing, tugging away, gay as the sunshine,
bright as day, throbbing with life. No one mess with the flag of our country
free. off! The flag’s raised high; bare our heads as
it passes by. We thrill with pride, and our hearts beat fast, and we cheer and
cheer as the flag goes past. The flag that waves for you and me. Flag of our
country, Flag of the free. Hats off! The American Flag is passing by.
Hats off! What of the men who
lifted you, Old Flag on top Of
Luzon Hill, Who crushed the Japs cruel, will, mid shock and roar And crash and scream, that crossed the Inland
Sea. Who starved, who fought, Who
bled, who died, that you might gloat in glorious pride, as you nobly led the
way. Hats
off! The American Flag is passing by.
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Your
stars shine on for liberty, White stripes stand for
purity, Crimson
courage high, for Honor’s sake
To fight and die. Lead on against the alien
shore! …………………………………………………………………………………
Hats off! The American Flag is
passing by.
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………
DR. KARL WALLACE
D.D.S.
To read more of my writings go
to: w.w.w.karlwallaceblog.blogspot.com
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