The annual Dr. Martin Luther King Holiday Observance is a time when America honors the life and legacy of Dr. King. As we celebrate and commemorate Dr. King, the political climate in America is beginning to look more like 1963. To become “The “beloved community” it must be Dr. King Day, every day.
The Beloved Community is not utopia, but it was a global vision where everyone can share in wealth. Standards of human decency replace discrimination, bigotry, and prejudice. Even recognizing that The Beloved community also involved conflict. Handling and resolving conflicts are key in creating this environment where The Beloved Community could flourish.
According to the King Center, “Fundamental tenets of Dr. King’s philosophy of nonviolence described in his first book, Stride Toward Freedom. Dr. King often said, he got his inspiration from Jesus Christ and his techniques from Mohandas K. Gandhi. These principles should be embraced as a lifestyle. Nonviolence is a love-centered way of thinking, speaking, acting, and engaging those leads to personal, cultural and societal transformation”.
It’s difficult to wrap your head around the concept of nonviolence as a method to achieve Civil Rights and Voting rights when Black people were being terrorized throughout the Nation. Segregation and the enforcement of Jim Crow laws affected the lives of millions. “The South was especially oppressive, it has been estimated that from 1882 to 1968, 4,743 lynchings occurred in the U.S.,” according to records kept by the NAACP.
Gains of African Americans disappear with the stroke of a Governor’s pen or a decision by the US Supreme Court. Gutting the Voting Rights Act, which was the Black populations, weapon of equity. 50 years of documented progress set aflame.
According to the Brennan Center for Social Justice, “Over the last 20 years, states have put barriers in front of the ballot box — imposing strict voter ID laws, cutting voting times, restricting registration, and purging voter rolls. These efforts, which received a boost when the Supreme Court weakened the Voting Rights Act in 2013, have kept significant numbers of eligible voters from the polls, hitting all Americans, but placing special burdens on racial minorities, poor people, and young and old voters.”
The State of Florida has engaged in the revision of African American History. According to curriculum standards released in July 2023, Florida students in Middle School will now learn that enslaved people “developed skills” that “could be applied for their personal benefit”.
It doesn’t stop there, “Diversity, equity and inclusion” has been under attack in both Florida and Tennessee. Presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has vowed to fight DEI including “in the corporations.” It’s become clear that there is political push-back to policies and programs that promote the representation and participation of different groups of individuals.
The approach to use non-violence was often criticized and difficult, given conditions at the time, imagine being non-violent when someone’s beating you in the head with a baton or being bitten by a dog at the command of Jim Crow Era law enforcement.
Also, we must recall that historic preference has been given to portions of his 1963, I Have a Dream Speech, which was given August 28th, 1963. History has selective amnesia about the years 1964-68, when Dr. King expanded his campaign to include a more diverse inclusive following: he spoke out against the Vietnam War, poverty, and the cost of war.
Even with his hope and faith there were serious doubts as he’s quoted, “I fear I am integrating my people into a burning house”. But you will not hear this quote as we focus on a tiny fraction of the I Have A Dream speech.
“It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked insufficient funds.But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.”
Dr. King was frozen in time by those who write history. We’ve been dosed with quotes that only reveal selectively chosen snippets. Even as he’s quoted, the words are sanitized, His “I Have A Dream” speech is seen by some as being his best, with soring oratory briming with hope for the future. I have a dream that my four little 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. I have a dream today.” His life is truncated by this insistence of presenting to modern day America, a speech about a 1963 “Dream”, while leaving out the poignant sections. King went on to broaden his coalition with speeches that no longer focused solely on the “Negro” and Civil Rights.
While the times may be difficult, we must remember the speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., including the parts that make people uncomfortable.
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