Martin Luther King Day 2012: A dream realized?

When I was in grade school, my English teacher (Mr. Devencintes, I believe) gave the class an assignment to read a speech out loud in class. I chose Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. I remember that I was so excited to recite it. I even dressed up like a man and I gave that speech at class. My classmates didn’t really know what do with my performance. (I was the only Black student in the class. Everyone else in the class was White.) I remember Mr. Devencintes reaction though. While the kids giggled nervously, Mr. D. praised my choice and went on to talk about how Dr. King was one of the greatest orators of all time. I agree. As a “dreamer” by nature, I was drawn to Martin Luther King Jr. and the conviction of his words. I loved his speech then. I love it now.

You can find the exact text of the “I Have a Dream” speech transcribed from recordings at The U.S. Constitution Online. It’s almost 50 years later since the original speech and people often discuss whether Dr. King’s dream has been realized. Many will point to the fact that we currently have a Black President of the United States (and Oprah!) and say an unequivocal “yes”. Personally, I think that a lot of progress has been made. However, I don’t think that Dr. King’s dream has been fulfilled and that he would be satisfied. His dream wasn’t about the “exceptions”, it was about the whole. There are still so many areas where Black people still reside “in the corners of American society”.

Last week a mom blogger wrote a post about her uncomfortable experience being the only “White Girl” at a high profile predominately Black event. It was actually a really great, heartfelt post. (A sentence using the term “ghetto” by one of her Black commenters made me livid, but that’s another post.) Anyway, I could relate to the blogger’s  experience. I commented that “I understand (her) experience of being the only one. From my personal experience, it just means that you have to work a bit harder to win people over. You get used to it if you put yourself in the situation enough times. Many Black people do just that.” Here’s the thing… I’m cool with people period. I’m human first. However, that doesn’t mean that I don’t notice the obvious lack of people of color when I have been involved in high profile institutions (schools, businesses, etc.) and events (work, social, blogging, etc.) or even in the media (offline and online).  Has progress been made? Absolutely. Black people are still very much so “in the corners” of the centers of power in American society though, so the dream lives on. I’m just really happy that people like Martin Luther King Jr. were willing to die for “all of God’s children, black men and white men (and women!), Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics” to live in our great nation. I’m grateful to be a child of the dream…