Wednesday, August 28, 2013
50th Aniversary of the March On Washington
I would love to have been amongst the souls standing with Dr. King during his "I Have A Dream" speech. I would love to feel the rush, the justice, and the power erupting from that man. Between that day in 1963, and today, I believe much has changed in the arena of Civil Rights, America has improved greatly. What was once a land in which minorities were shunned, powerless servants is now a place in which a person of any race can achieve any feat. We have CEO's, businessmen, judges, lawyers, doctors, and even a president, who associate with a minority race. Some, like Michelle Norris of Time Magazine, would argue that America has actually surpassed the goals Dr. King set. "Fifty years after King delivered his speech, another black man will stand at the Lincoln Memorial to address the masses--this time at a lectern embellished with a presidential seal. And the crowd assembled to hear Barack Obama will include women, minorities and immigrants who have climbed a ladder of upward mobility that simply did not exist five decades ago." Norris argues that in 50 years our country's mindset has changed. This ladder exists, it is a ladder that anybody can climb, no matter how they look. This is ladder has many ways up, many strategies to climb it. Even though America now has a black president, which is obviously an enormous milestone in our growth, racism will always exist. Unfortunately, it is completely impossible to cure the earth of racism, hate, or elitism. So yes, America has made enormous jumps and bounds, but due to the constant and overwhelming racism there is a glass ceiling that American society can never surpass. This country is damned to a future of hate, violence, and injustice. However, I believe that the election, and the re-election specifically, suggest that America is heading down a great path. The majority of the country did not allow race to completely compel their vote. However, some did, walking around any city you are bound to see these people. Some are hidden behind their suits and ties, some are asking the world to see. While this is extremely sad and disappointing, it is the truth. Racism is the house fly that is always buzzing around, you can try to hit it, but odds are you will miss.
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I feel that what you are saying is exactly what we are going through. Although we will never be completely cured of racism and hate, we have made huge leaps to come as close as ever to fixing the problem.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that the experience of being there for MLK's speech would be life changing
ReplyDeleteI disagree with you Jacob. I think we do have the opportunity to erase racism. The problem lies in how we teach our future generations. If we can stop the infection before it spreads, then it will eventually go extinct.
ReplyDeleteI generally agree with your statement Jacob, but just because a problem can't be totally fixed doesn't mean there isn't more room for progress, in fact there will always be more room for progress. For example we have laws for things such as theft. The laws make theft seem pretty discouraging and society generally looks down upon thieves, yet theft is inevitable, but that doesn't mean we stop discouraging theft, it means we work harder and it and think more creatively in solving the issue whether its theft, crime, racism, etc. Racism isn't one house fly it's a many house flies, some that you can hit others you miss.
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