I have a dream
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
- Martin Luther King
I so love that phrase. I love it for everything it means, and all the ways it means it. I have the same dream, and I believe it has been hijacked and used for some very self-serving purposes, by all sides. Some may say I'm hijacking it too, but I don't think so.
I dream of a day when we figure out that after 40+ years of Affirmative Action, that program of excuses has put us no closer to the goal of racial equality than we were before it started. Other things have…like actual achievement by people of all races. I dream of a day when the lazy people, from all sides of the race equation, can’t use that inadequate program as a crutch. I dream that lazy black people won’t expect a job they want just because a company doesn’t fit some numbers game. I dream that lazy white people won’t blame the fact that they don't have the job they want on the same numbers game, and don pillow cases and waltz down main street using my cross as their symbol. I dream that we all get judged by what we do and not how we look.
I dream of a day when nobody talks of succeeding in a white man’s world, but just of succeeding in the world. I dream that young black girls and boys aren’t pressured in school to dumb themselves down for fear of being seen as trying to be ‘white’. I dream of a day when Asian shopkeepers in black neighborhoods aren’t physically abused and robbed, because someone is jealous of their success. I dream that success, along with everything else, is color blind.
I dream of a day when all of us are proud of our heritage, but it is more important to us to be known as Americans, rather than Native Americans, or African Americans, or Mexican Americans, or Italian Americans, or any other qualifier which keeps us divided.
I dream of a day when the confederate flag (doesn't have to, but) really could hang from the statehouse in any state in the Union, and be seen as a mark of heritage for those that see it that way, because hatred is so far from everyone’s mind, that everyone agrees that any other meaning would be ludicrous.
- Martin Luther King
I so love that phrase. I love it for everything it means, and all the ways it means it. I have the same dream, and I believe it has been hijacked and used for some very self-serving purposes, by all sides. Some may say I'm hijacking it too, but I don't think so.
I dream of a day when we figure out that after 40+ years of Affirmative Action, that program of excuses has put us no closer to the goal of racial equality than we were before it started. Other things have…like actual achievement by people of all races. I dream of a day when the lazy people, from all sides of the race equation, can’t use that inadequate program as a crutch. I dream that lazy black people won’t expect a job they want just because a company doesn’t fit some numbers game. I dream that lazy white people won’t blame the fact that they don't have the job they want on the same numbers game, and don pillow cases and waltz down main street using my cross as their symbol. I dream that we all get judged by what we do and not how we look.
I dream of a day when nobody talks of succeeding in a white man’s world, but just of succeeding in the world. I dream that young black girls and boys aren’t pressured in school to dumb themselves down for fear of being seen as trying to be ‘white’. I dream of a day when Asian shopkeepers in black neighborhoods aren’t physically abused and robbed, because someone is jealous of their success. I dream that success, along with everything else, is color blind.
I dream of a day when all of us are proud of our heritage, but it is more important to us to be known as Americans, rather than Native Americans, or African Americans, or Mexican Americans, or Italian Americans, or any other qualifier which keeps us divided.
I dream of a day when the confederate flag (doesn't have to, but) really could hang from the statehouse in any state in the Union, and be seen as a mark of heritage for those that see it that way, because hatred is so far from everyone’s mind, that everyone agrees that any other meaning would be ludicrous.
John put this out here at 11:17 AM
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