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Sunday, January 15, 2006
Racial Progress
A revealing poll from the Associated Press (I respond to the questions myself below the graphic):
Do you think there has been significant progress toward Martin Luther King’s dream of racial equality?
Significant progress? Yes. Still a long way to go? Absolutely. The Civil Rights movement in the 1960’s was a turning point for the United States and King has come to embody everything that it stands for. As I just did in the last sentence, most everyone speaks of the Civil Rights movement as if it happened and then resigned to the history books. The truth is, in my opinion, we are still in the midst of the movement and have a quite a bit of ground to cover. This country was built on the backs of minorities from the days of conquest through slavery and all the way up to today. This fact isn’t easily forgotten and is often ignored. Unfortunately, the Katrina disaster set us back a decade or two because both blacks and whites sunk to name-calling and hurling false accusations. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll see true racial equality in my lifetime but I do believe my generation will continue to see progress, with a few steps back along the way.
Will you do anything to commemorate Martin Luther King Day this year?
As I did last year, I’ll probably read Letter from Birmingham Jail again. Embarrassingly, I only first read it a little over a year ago and I realized it was something that should have been read much earlier in life. Beautifully written and poignant, I get the distinct feeling that not enough people in this country have read it and really thought about it. One can learn so much from it and not just about race and equality. If you don’t normally do anything for the holiday, read Dr. King's Letter from Birmingham Jail.
Do you feel that Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday should be a national holiday?
Of course. We already have White History Month well-established January-December each year.
Posted by Will at January 15, 2006 05:47 PM in In the News