Doctor Martin Luther King Jnr.
On this 50th Commeration of the march on Washington, Dr. Kings daughter Dr Bernice King brought tears to my eyes as she talked about social injustice and the work ahead for America.
Today more than ever the need for social justice is great. America has made great strides in its elusive quest for justice. There is a long way to go. One man told me today, all we need now is for the old racists to die out. I asked him to look at the young Senators and Congress-men and women. I asked him to look at the voices in the media and tell me if they are old people on the verge of dying out. In fact no, they aren’t dying out, Racism is taught today as it was back when the great Martyrs of the Civil Rights Struggle toiled tirelessly for racial and social justice.
The same attitudes of the 50’s and 60’s are still on display today. Evident on the Highest Court in the land. In the hollowed halls of the Congress. It is evident in the Board-Rooms of corporate America. It is evident in our prison population. It is evident in State Legislatures all across America. It is evident in how our streets are policed. In our places of worship, in Restaurants , and in every crevasse and corner of national life. Yes there have been changes. No Racism is not going to die out. Dr King’s speech here:http://www.archives.gov/press/exhibits/dream-speech.pdf.
Each and every Generation which require and desire social and racial justice must be prepared to run its lap . We cannot relax on the sacrifices of those who went before us ‚jeopardizing the future of those coming after us. Our Generation has done immeasurable harm to the sacrifice of Dr King and others . Let us adopt the cause of social and racial justice not just for blacks , but for all people. Dr. King warned 50 years ago against accepting the tranquilizing drug of gradualism, our generation did not listen.
We must all be alarmed when we the people, all of us, cannot rely on the highest seat of arbitration in the country. The Supreme Court in its assault on the Voting Rights Act, brings into question its own ability to be just , fair, and honest in deliberating on behalf of all Americans. The struggle continues.