Martin Luther King Jr. Day 2013 … Its Always About the Content of One’s Character

2013 Martin Luther King Jr. Day

“In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not to seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom, by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” (MLK Jr.)

We all long for the “Dream”, but we must always remain vigilant of how we get there and who we chose to follow and listen to. Sadly, many have tried to highjack Martin Luther King Jr’s message to coop it for their own advantage. Don’t be sheep America, be true to yourself and think for yourself.  No truer words have ever been stated than those by Martin Luther King Jr. during his ‘I Have a Dream Speech’ on August 28, 1963,  “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”. MLK’s message was meant for people of all colors, not one. It was also meant for individuals to interpret it for themselves, not to let those who would benefit from racial strife to tell you how to think and especially who to hate. Martin Luther King Jr’s indelible message in about equality and the measure of one’s character, not about one’s skin color.

MLK Jr’s ‘The I Have a Dream Speech’:

 … I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

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.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream today.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with a new meaning, “My country, ’tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!

Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!

Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!

But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!

Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day 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!”

King’s message makes me wonder what MLK would think about of “His Dream” today? In the United States we have come so far as to be able to elect a President of color not once, but twice. We have had individuals of color in all three branches of government, as high ranking US generals, in the media and every position in the free market system. However, we still have racism in this country and even worse we have race baiting and those that would claim they care about the plight of the discriminated by making false claims of racism and playing the race card at every opportunity.

Think back to MLK Jr’s enlightening words, “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.” The color of one’s skin. Would it matter to MLK the color of one’s skin who was president when blacks  had a 14% unemployment rate, nearly twice the rate of white men and women. Would MLK Jr. have cared the color of one’s skin of a president when black teens had a shocking 39.4% unemployment?  Would MLK care of the color of ones skin of the leader of the US if Black millennials, those aged 18-29, fare better, but still face an 18.5% unemployment rate? I would dare say that the answer is no.

I would like to think that Martin Luther King Jr., had he been alive today, would speak out against any leader, including President Barack Hussein Obama, for his irresponsible and pathetic approach to help the black community unchain themselves from the bondage of slavery of dependence from the federal government, entitlement programs and the Nanny state.  I would like to believe that King would have spoke out against the record millions that have been forced onto food stamps.

To be free at last, free at last means to not be dependent on one party or the federal government. I have to believe that was part of Marin Luther King Jr’s dream as well. All Americans of all colors should reflect on that today.