March 24, 2000

We all know who Martin Luther King, Jr. was. Most, if not all of us, can recite four words of his: "I have a dream."

It's too bad that we've lost sight of that dream.

"I Have a Dream" was delivered thirty six and a half years ago on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, one century after the honored President signed the Emancipation Proclaimation. Suddenly, words that our country prided itself on gained even more creedence-- that all men are created equal. King echoed this belief while reinforcing it as a nationwdie goal in his remarks:

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 slaveowners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

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

I have a dream that my four 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.


From Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech

A colorblind society. The noblest of goals. The most desirable of dreams. With few exceptions, no one wants to be judged by the color of their skin when they can be judged by the content of their character. But why do groups that claim to "fight bias and bigotry" harp on race, religion, sexual orientation, etc. as the defining factor as to what makes up a person's character?

Take this except from the National Conference for Community and Justice (NCCJ), an organization that runs programs aimed at fostering a more tolerant society:

Tania Asnes and Savoun Vath were typical Anytowners this summer: they were different from each other. Tania is Jewish American and Savoun a Cambodian immigrant. But to each other they were soon just two teenage girls, with a lot in common. But then came an Anytown reality-check. Starting shoulder to shoulder, Tania, Savoun and other campers took steps forward or backward depending on their responses to instructions like "Take a step backward if your family ever had to move because they could not afford the rent." When it was over, Tania was near the front. But not Savoun. "I looked back and I saw Savoun sitting back there. We were talking today ... and I thought, wait a minute, why am I up here and she's back there?" In searching discussion, the answers begin to get clear. It's not a level playing field. Some of us experience individual and institutionalized racism and prejudice. And once you see it, your vision is altered. At least it was for Tania and Savoun.

From The National Conference for Community and Justice

Ms. Asnes and Ms. Vath honestly sat together at the table of brotherhood, only to be seperated-- one as the former slaveowner, the other, a former slave. The "oppresive" Asnes saw Vath not as someone to opress. She was someone with whom she could be friends. But the friendship was by no means an oasis. As NCCJ showed these girls, it was a mere mirage.

Let's attempt to make the world color-blind by actually attempting the novel idea of teaching color-blindness. This identity politics crap has perverted a realistic dream. Hopefully, the effects of the "programs" like Anytown are reversible. If not, Dr. King's dream is already dead.

Dan