I have a dream...

[mthrnite]

I have

a dream today.

Today is the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He would have been 78 years old today. He was shot in the throat on April 4th, 1968. I was four years old when he died.

He is a hero to me for many reasons, but primarily because he understood, and tried to get others to understand, that we are all equally human. He fought peacefully and effectively against racism, and for civil rights for all Americans.

I was brought up in a time and a place where racism was standard. Even the blacks that my family liked were referred to as niggers. I went to a private "christian" school until 6th grade, it was all white. My family moved while I was in 6th grade and I was faced with going to a public school for the first time. I remember how scared I was that there would be blacks there. I ended up being bullied on a daily basis by a white guy, until one day a black guy came to my aid, and became my first friend at that school. It was a big revelation to me, and was very important in forming the person I am now. I still heard plenty of racist remarks after that, and I've been called a n****-lover on more than one occasion, but my friend William had given me insight that I would never lose. We are the HUMAN race, and we are all brothers and sisters in this, our family.

There's plenty of information about Dr. King on the internet and in your local library. If you know little or nothing about him, take the opportunity to know more. He was a great man, and a wise man, and an avatar among us. To get you started, here is perhaps his most famous, and certainly one of his most moving speeches, given in 1968 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Here is the text of the speech, the MP3 file and the video below.

 

[[M]artin]

MLK is a man who's life and deeds cannot be described in mere words. He has changed a nation and a society through much blood, sweat, tears. May his memory live on forever.
[Touching story, Mthrnite

]

 

[chari]

I was also raised in a predominately "white" school where racism ran rampant. Visible minorities, such as myself, were often brutally abused and most of our so-called role models (teachers, counselors, principals, etc.) turned a blind eye or supported these instances. We have come a long way from those times, but there is still so much more to do.

Thanks for sharing your experience mthrnite. I personally believe hearing such experiences help us to grow

We must never forget this important mark in history nor the person who fought so hard for what we already have today.

Thank you, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

[Digeman]

One of the greatest men of all time. Let us not make the mistake that many have made when he died and loose hope of his dreams. Because if we do, all that he has struggled for and his entire life would have been in vane. People need to realise that it didn't end with his death and that if there weren't for people like him we would most likely be lost. People need to realise that it only began with him and it is up to us now to finish what he started and make his dream a reality so that he can truly rest in peace.

Rest in peace Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

[Mehdi]

It is this what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought for, you guys are the fruits of his sweat and tears, he would be proud.

RIP Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

 

[gbasho]

if one were to assemble a list of people to whom the degree of reverence he or she received was worthily ascribed, undeniably the resulting roster would be remarkably short. though short as it would be, there can be no doubt that high on that list (the top) would reside the name of the man for whom this holiday was created, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

there is no way to summarize what an impact this man has had on a city, a state, a country and the world and it is truly a blessing that people in the U.S. are given a day to reflect on the impact of words. merely a nonrandom stringing together of curved an straight lines, these devices when in turn are strung together in the incredibly gifted way as exemplified by the late Dr. King become the dam that stop the seeming immutable flow of rampant ignorance and unabashed imbecility.

it is unfortunate that such a man as this needed to come along to peacefully remove the "wool" from the eyes of many. it is unfortunate that some people would desperately want to remain in the dark, to revel in esctasy in their ignorance like pitiful swine more than happy to dwell in filth. it is unfortunate that for whatever the reason, someone thought it best to assassinate this wonderful man.

now Dr. King is but a memory, but a memory that would do all of us well to remember, regardless of our wealth or poverty, skin colour or lack thereof, or country in which we dwell.

Dr. Martin Luther King's dream applies to us all, regardless of the way we look or what jobs we have because, like it or not, we are all tied together in some way. the problems of one group of people shall quickly become that of another group on the other side of the world (huh, Bush?).

i am glad that you took the time out of your day to create this thread and link the video, mthrnite! may we all spend at least some time today, if not already done, to reflect on what could be learned from this remarkable person who risked his life to defend sanitary workers in Memphis, Tennessee.

if only, if only Dr. King were the rolemodel people benchmarked instead of the grill-wearing, money wasting, zero return on investment welcoming, help-no one-but yourself, panderers to violence worshipped by many feeble minded members of my race in my country to this day. Dr. King didn't bling, he dreamed hope-giving dreams.

 

[skullstatue]

I grew up in a predominately racist, white-hating crap hole. My teachers would always treat me like shit no matter how good my grade's were. It really offends me when people prance around saying only white people can be racists, and that it's the only thing going on today. Living my whole life having people shouting cracker, hick, and being attacked and picked on constantly has it's toll on a person. I've fought back all of my life, and I will continue to fight back. This country is going to die, there is no way around it....

 

[nintendofreak]

thank you mthrnite for sharing your story with us

But more than anything Thank you Martin Luther King for making such a impact on the world

All humans are equal!!!

 

[memyselfandi]

I grew up in a predominately racist, white-hating crap hole. My teachers would always treat me like shit no matter how good my grade's were. It really offends me when people prance around saying only white people can be racists, and that it's the only thing going on today. Living my whole life having people shouting cracker, hick, and being attacked and picked on constantly has it's toll on a person. I've fought back all of my life, and I will continue to fight back. This country is going to die, there is no way around it....

I'm Hispanic and i somewhat agree on what you had to say. I do believe that other people are racist not just white people but i do not think that you should attack other people because of what some ignorant individuals may have said because then you keep the cycle going and we won't have what Mr. Luther wanted. i think that he was awesome and made great leaps in our culture. I may not have been able to write what i am right now if he hadn't done what he did.

 

[Mehdi]

I grew up in a predominately racist, white-hating crap hole. My teachers would always treat me like shit no matter how good my grade's were. It really offends me when people prance around saying only white people can be racists, and that it's the only thing going on today. Living my whole life having people shouting cracker, hick, and being attacked and picked on constantly has it's toll on a person. I've fought back all of my life, and I will continue to fight back. This country is going to die, there is no way around it....

Be the change you want to see in the world.

 

[skullstatue]

I am being the change I want to see in the world, I'm standing up for my race because no one else will.

 

[cruddybuddy]

Let us not make the mistake that many have made when he died and loose hope of his dreams.

Lose hope? Umm, news flash, his dreams WERE made a reality. Well, with the exception of "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together." But hell, that was some religious crap, right?


BONUS! Here is another brilliant black American who is very much alive today and has some pretty profound thoughts on a wide range of topics.

His name is Walter E. Williams and he is an economics professor from George Mason University. When you visit his website I would recommend paying particular interest to the link GIFT at the top right of the page.
http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/

 

[.TakaM]

living in new zealand and only being 18, Ive only been taught mostly the romantic side of racism, the revolutions and whatnot.
racism has hardly even factored in my life, my family has a lot of mixed races, chinese, samoan, maori, japanese, german etc and enough friends to make a rainbow

so yes, martin luther king jr was a great man- no one can deny that

 

[mthrnite]

Hey skullstatue,
I understand where you're coming from.. try to rise above it though. I ain't gonna preach to you. You'll make your way as you can.

One of the reasons MLK was a great leader, was that he didn't take the easier way. It's easy to drum up a mob by appealing to their base instincts, hate and fear. Dr. King took the hard road and fought hate with love, and appealing to a downtrodden people's loftier side is a tough thing to do. Gandhi did it, Jesus did it, they taught people to stand up without having to knock somebody else down. I try to do it that way myself.

I'm an atheist, surrounded by Christians. My base instinct tells me that they don't like me, I shouldn't like them, they make fun of me, I should make fun of them, they don't trust me, I shouldn't trust them. You might think it's to my advantage to not have any outward markings that indicate who I am, but it just means I hear more of the hate, not less of it (ask any homosexual, same sort of thing.) I stand up though, I'm not proud to be an atheist, I just am, and I will be myself because to me there is no other choice. The way I deal with the ignorance is by integrating myself. I speak the Christian language, I know the culture, I read their book. I command their respect not by citing differences, but similarities. In the end, hopefully, some of the Christians who meet me will jump to less drastic conclusions when they meet other atheists. That's fighting darkness with light. Some of the more hardcore atheists would call me an "uncle tom" atheist. That's ok by me. Integration is the key to understanding, segregation is the key to the real downfall of civilization.

Ah, shit, looks like I ended up preaching to you after all. Forgive plz. Just remember there is more than one way to be strong.

 

[Devante]

That's ok by me. Integration is the key to understanding, segregation is the key to the real downfall of civilization.

Actually, if you take a look at the past, history has proven time and time again that intergration is the downfall to every civilation.

Almost every single civilation in history that has enslaved, set free, and then assimilated that race into their society has ended up in ruins.

This isn't my opinion. It's history.

 

[nintendofreak]

Actually, if you take a look at the past, history has proven time and time again that intergration is the downfall to every civilation.

Almost every single civilation in history that has enslaved, set free, and then assimilated that race into their society has ended up in ruins.

This isn't my opinion. It's history.

But All humans belong to the same race, so I dont get what you mean when you say that

Unless you allow other animals and stuff to live as humans, then id see alot of Cougars turning against humans

 

[rest0re]

malcom x > martin luther king

 

[mthrnite]

DeVante: yeah, I know it sounds like I'm splitting hairs to defend a point...
.. but I did say civilization in the singular, not "every civilization", so nintendofreak got me spot on.
It is, however, a matter of opinion whether or not racial integration is a good or bad thing..
I think you can guess which side of the fence I fall on there though.

rest0re: As I told skullstatue, there is more than one way to be strong. I'm not arguing against Malcom X, or Stephen Biko for that matter. I'm celebrating a man who found what I consider to be a better way.. some will disagree, I knew that when I made the topic.
You're welcome to make equations and inequalities, but please, show your work.

 

[Destructobot]

Actually, if you take a look at the past, history has proven time and time again that intergration is the downfall to every civilation.

Almost every single civilation in history that has enslaved, set free, and then assimilated that race into their society has ended up in ruins.

This isn't my opinion. It's history.

This might be more convincing if you could cite some societies that did not do so and did not fall.

Every society falls. What goes up must come down, and so forth. If our present day civilizations don't fall there will be no room for the civilizations to come.

The future will see our bones turn to dust, and we should be happy about it. The only alternative is the true death of life.