“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.”
–Martin Luther King, Jr.
August 28, 1963

Happy MLK Day. It’s time to reflect on the role of equality in America.
Martin Luther King Jr. has been elevated to the pseudo-status of an American saint. Was it his ideals? Was it his guts to stand up against something which he wholeheartedly thought was wrong? Something as silly as having separate water fountains and entrances for the different races. Something silly like African Americans having to give up their seat on a bus for a white patron.
Then again sometimes I wonder if King would have supported some of these more radical race issues. Like the government paying compensation to slave decendents.
Even affirmative action could be considered racist since admission and hiring policies are primarily based on race instead of “the content of one’s character.” I wonder if King would have supported this idea.
How does America celebrate MLK Day? I noticed the SciFi Channel was playing a Quantum Leap marathon today. I’m not sure what that has to do with King, although the show did deal with race and equality issues sometimes. Several people went skiing this weekend. Maybe that’s how many white people celebrate MLK day.
During my school years we didn’t get MLK Day off. Yet many of my African American classmates decided to take off on MLK Day for whatever reason. This runs completely opposite of what King fought for. He fought so that children of all races could attend school together.
Is fighting racism important to me? Yes. However being male, middle class, and white, there are some things I’m not able to fully understand. To my knowledge I’ve never been turned down for something based solely on race.
I don’t have many African American friends. I had a black friend in high school. He was cool. We would joke around with him during band camp. Asked him if the weather was “Africa Hot?” As if he would actually know how hot Africa’s weather was.
They say that the most segregated hour in America is on Sunday mornings. Most Americans worship in seperate church (seperated by race). Many times this is done by choice. Its unfortunate because we’d probably understand each other alot better if we’d worship together.
I think we as a society are better off than we were 40 years ago as far as race relations. We still have some time to go. As long as race is used in hiring decisions and university admittance….. As long as hate groups are still around, we’ll still need to be making a concerted effort to try to build better race relations.