Dreams of the Everyday Blogger
I was thinking on Monday, as I mailed some things at the post office, all closed up to honor the late Dr. Martin Luther King, that while his dream survives today, it hasn't become reality.
We (here in the U.S.) live in a society that according to newsradio reports on Monday that is divided along a color line. A green line. Money is what separates the races these days, according to these reports. The ability to earn it, the opportunities to invest it, and so on.
Larry Elder, noted radio and television talk show host often disputes that view and as I stood there outside the post office I thought that there is some merit to some of what he has said in the past. There is unlimited opportunity in this country, if you are know where to find it. You can be anything you want to be, within certain limits. So far, the presidency has been limited to white males, but who knows, that may change someday. Same with the vice presidency and at least there's been one nominee for that post from one of the two major political parties who wasn't a white male. Of course, she was part of one of the biggest losing tickets in history.
I have my own dreams, nonsensical as they are. I dream of the day where someone other than a Negro will be the head of the NAACP. After all, with the exception of Caucasians, all other races are supposedly people of color and the organization's acronym does stand for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. I dream of the day when NOW will be headed by a man. Can't a man be in favor of equality for women and support an organization that has this goal as its mission? I dream of the day that a Muslim will become chair of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Strange vision, isn't it? I agree. I don't really dream of those things. What I dream of is a society where we aren't so polarized along so many different lines that we no longer need a NAACP and a NOW and a SCLC and a MALDEF and an American-Arab Anti-Defamation League and I could go on endlessly here, but I hope the point is coming across. We are neither a melting pot or a salad bowl or any other metaphor for a meshed society that you may want to use. We have become a fractured, broken society, divided along so many different lines that it can get downright confusing. I dream of a society, indeed, of a world, where these dividing lines can be done away with, and we can learn to treat everyone, no matter their race or creed, their age or gender, their religion or even lack thereof, with the same respect and dignity that we ourselves want to be treated with. Sadly, I doubt my dream will ever become reality.
We (here in the U.S.) live in a society that according to newsradio reports on Monday that is divided along a color line. A green line. Money is what separates the races these days, according to these reports. The ability to earn it, the opportunities to invest it, and so on.
Larry Elder, noted radio and television talk show host often disputes that view and as I stood there outside the post office I thought that there is some merit to some of what he has said in the past. There is unlimited opportunity in this country, if you are know where to find it. You can be anything you want to be, within certain limits. So far, the presidency has been limited to white males, but who knows, that may change someday. Same with the vice presidency and at least there's been one nominee for that post from one of the two major political parties who wasn't a white male. Of course, she was part of one of the biggest losing tickets in history.
I have my own dreams, nonsensical as they are. I dream of the day where someone other than a Negro will be the head of the NAACP. After all, with the exception of Caucasians, all other races are supposedly people of color and the organization's acronym does stand for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. I dream of the day when NOW will be headed by a man. Can't a man be in favor of equality for women and support an organization that has this goal as its mission? I dream of the day that a Muslim will become chair of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Strange vision, isn't it? I agree. I don't really dream of those things. What I dream of is a society where we aren't so polarized along so many different lines that we no longer need a NAACP and a NOW and a SCLC and a MALDEF and an American-Arab Anti-Defamation League and I could go on endlessly here, but I hope the point is coming across. We are neither a melting pot or a salad bowl or any other metaphor for a meshed society that you may want to use. We have become a fractured, broken society, divided along so many different lines that it can get downright confusing. I dream of a society, indeed, of a world, where these dividing lines can be done away with, and we can learn to treat everyone, no matter their race or creed, their age or gender, their religion or even lack thereof, with the same respect and dignity that we ourselves want to be treated with. Sadly, I doubt my dream will ever become reality.
posted by me at 9:50 AM
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