January 18, 2009
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Once again another Martin Luther King Day is upon us, but this one different from any other we have known, for obvious reasons. With Barack Obama’s inauguration the day after, history will be made. Of course this is a day many of us thought we would never see. MLK often spoke about reaching that mountain top and I have to wonder if we have indeed finally reached it. I think he was referring to and end to racism as a whole but honestly, I don’t know that we will ever get to that point, as there will always be somebody out there who is racist. But I’m wondering if this is the peek, if this is the best it could be. I mean, a half black man will be the most powerful man in the world. That speaks volumes here in America. Honestly, I don’t know what else can be done that would be anymore important or mean more to race relations then this. My guess is that if King were alive today, he would be very old. Also, he would feel almost fulfilled at this historic event.
Still, there is something that troubles me. Its blacks views on gays. Everybody knows about Prop 8 in California passing in November. And a big reason why it passed was the huge black support for it. I can not and will not accept that blacks, after all the progress we have made, want to turn around and hold down another group of people; they want to prevent another class of people from having the same rights they have. The irony is almost to much to handle. The bigger irony here is that from everything I have read and seen, MLK was a supporter of gays and yet his very followers who rightfully heap praise and support upon him want to fight against equality for gays. I do understand why; its all about religion. Blacks are very religious and an overwhelming majority of blacks are Christians. And being such, they interpret their God’s words as being against homosexuality. Again, more irony, religion, which is supposed to be about bringing people together, is once again dividing people.
On the week that an amazing, historic event is to take place, an event that has brought much of the country together, we remain sadly divided when it comes to gays. I’m sure some day there will be equal rights, as the wheels of justice turn slow but once they get going they are impossible to stop. Maybe one day an open homosexual will be taking the oath of office. Maybe one day we will look back at the ills, fights and debates that have taken place this decade and realize how wrong it all was. Maybe one day we will look at each other as humans and not as races, genders, sexualities or ages. Maybe one day.
Long live the dream.
Comments (2)
Hmm, if it is true that many African American voters supported Prop. 8, it might be because of the strong religious heritage in their community. Not that every African America is religious, of course not. But it’s a general attitude around the community, just as it is through entire states like Texas. (I used to live in Texas, so I know what I’m talking about, lol.)
Mind you, I’m not African American, so I’m guessing. :/
The real issue in my opinion is education. We need a more enlightened citizenry so we can resolve hatred, poverty, and suffering. I want this idea of change, hope, and “yes we can” to become a realty. I’ve been browsing around the web for ideas that vibe with us, and I ran across this interesting video saying we need to establish an education bill of rights. I really believe education is the silver bullet for everything (and no I’m not talking about Coors Light).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuWXNzKHNFY
Cheers!