|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
This past week, the nation noted the 60th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech.
The speech is without question a historic landmark, both in terms of recalling the unique stress of the time and in terms of King’s eloquence in capturing the situation.
But beyond being interesting, why do we bother at all with history?
It brings to mind Albert Einstein’s famous definition of insanity: “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”
Einstein essentially touched the question about why we study history. Our track record of success and failure is spotted. Looking back, we get a sense of what works and what doesn’t. Regarding our failures, Einstein was conveying we should be honest about them, learn from them and have the courage to change.
Given that King spoke that day to all Americans — not just Black Americans or white Americans — we should assess where we are today given how King defined then what was wrong. What have we learned, and what remains for us to learn?
We need to ask why, 60 years later, race still occupies such a large part of our public consciousness.
King’s complaint was not about our national charter. He referred to the “magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.”
His complaint and indictment were that the nation was not living up to that charter.
In the grand scheme of things, King, in that speech, defined the movement he led as about leading America to its full potential, as defined by the ideals and principles in its founding documents.
He implored that the struggle to realize the American charter of freedom and protection of the rights of all citizens take place “on the high plane of dignity and discipline.” He urged Black Americans to not “satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”
And King’s final appeal was to see our nation as a nation under God.
It is a critical point.
King’s vision, as expressed that day, was that the American ideal of freedom would be made possible when “all of God’s children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.'”
Although our realities today are far different from August 1963 — certainly the material state of Black Americans is far, far better — there is a prevailing sense that things are not good.
If we take King’s words at face value, then it is questionable we have learned much since then.
When he spoke about failing to live up to the “magnificent words” of our founding documents, he got applause from the crowd.
It is questionable that would be the case today. Many on the left see our nation as fundamentally flawed. They see government and politics as the answer, not individual freedom.
The nation’s deplorable fiscal situation today reflects this change in attitude. Government spending now takes two-thirds more from our national economy than when King spoke in 1963.
King’s appeal that the struggle take place “on the high plane of dignity” is also, sadly, lost. The divisions and hate between citizens today are an unfortunate and troubling reality.
And, what should trouble us most, is we have moved in the opposite direction from King’s vision that ultimately our freedom will be realized as children of God.
The political left sees our future in socialism and secularism.
If, over the 60 years since King spoke, we pursued freedom in terms of personal responsibility, limited government and faith, we would be far, far better off today.
“MLK’S DREAM turned into his worst NIGHTMARE now that people are hired, appointed, chosen, and elected ONLY due to the Color of their Skin, their LGBQT+WXYZ status, their political agenda, and NOT the Content of their Qualifications!” SC
Now it’s the open and blatant war against Whites. “White guilt.” “Whitelash.” “White Supremacy.” “Whites are the problem.” Even Conservative Blacks are attacked, “The Black Face of White Supremacy.” Who is saying this? There is a wave of Black Supremacy. Even Rosa Parks Dream is now “Blacks Only.” Some colleges have Black’s Only graduations, dorms, safe spaces, and Black Student Unions. WAIT, isn’t that segregation and what Rosa Parks fought against and yet, the people that honor her are the same ones dishonoring her. If anyone dares to mention the hypocrisy, look out.
“MILLIONS are still watching Black and White TV’s so they only see the world as Black and White. Those same millions are constantly playing with the knobs trying to take the White part out!” SC
It’s a concerted effort to keep us at each other’s throats so we don’t turn on our real masters and overthrow them. Pretty obvious, actually.
He would be very disappointed to the Looting and Rioting and Violence of them all and Farrakhan and his rantings these violent mobs he would never aproove of
Remember what happened in the days after his assassination — riots all over the place, cities burning, and all that.
MLK was a Christian Socialist.
He was not a champion of individualism and capitalism. He had a hot mess of philosophical contradictions in his thinking. He wanted to have his cake and eat it too. He was an anti-racist at best but an anti-racist is not an individualist and anti-racism simply leads back to racism and collectivism.
“MLK was a Christian Socialist”
Martin Luther King Jr. was a communist, accused of witness to rape, pro-reparations, and spread the lie that it is about character (like George Floyd) instead of merit
“Insanity: doing the same thing…” Apparently Einstein never said that. The quote seems to have been first published in 12-step (Al-Alon & Narcotics Anonymous) literature in the 1980’s. https://quoteinvestigator.com/2017/03/23/same/
The Left likes to distract from the real issues. that people should focus on for their own good. The Left has actually turned a civil society into a pagan nation with their corruption, lawlessness, and anti-semetism. People see the who the real rabble rousers are now. No wonder we are in decline as a nation,. MLK was a true leader for a Godly society and his words were spoken in truth. Same for his niece Alveda King.
Dr. King is gone and forgotten.
Most of his people don’t have the IQ to understand what he was about.