Please don't allow the ususal suspect to derail and defame the honor and significance of this day and this speech. Interesting anecdote from a CNN story: MLK's speech almost didn't include "I have a dream" King had suggested the familiar "Dream" speech that he used in Detroit for his address at the march, but his adviser the Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker called it "hackneyed and trite." So, the night before the march, King's staff crafted a new speech, "Normalcy Never Again." King was the last speaker to address the crowd in Washington that day. As he spoke, gospel singer Mahalia Jackson called out to King, "Tell 'em about the dream, Martin." Then he paused and said, "I still have a dream." Walker was out in the audience. "I said, 'Oh, s---.'" "I thought it was a mistake to use that," Walker recalled. "But how wrong I was. It had never been used on a world stage before." The rest, of course, is history. http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/28/us/mlk-i-have-a-dream-9-things/index.html?hpt=hp_c2
I don't think sacrificing the lusual intellectual honesty or free exchange of ideas for the sake of ceremony and nostalgia is much better.
I am black...and I am sincerely asking...has any other black person had a talk about their 'culture'? It has never happened to me. My mother, grandmother, grandfather never told me "This is your culture." and we didn't end the year celebrating Kwanzaa...The black people I've met to celebrate Kwanzaa I can likely count on one hand. I don't understand this all encompassing black culture, even when black people say it...it usually means celebrating the history of black people in America...although it seems to pop up a lot when it comes time to group the entire race together and tell them their problems.
you're saying folks are painting with too broad a brush? I think that's a fair point. I think a more appropriate way to discuss it would be the trends in single parent households and emphasis on education across various racial (or other) groups.
I honor Dr. King for his work for social justice and his desire to have his children and children's children see a better future. As a fellow Christian, I believe the one thing that Dr. King cares about more than anything is wether or not a person has come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. This too, is what I desire for you all as well. May God bless you all.
^^This^^ Its not a "black culture" thing...its a low-income culture problem. All races have the same problems in the lower economic rungs. Single-parent households and low emphasis on education are the largest negative-factors on our society right now. Change those 2 problems and you improve the future of ALL RACES in this country. I came from a single-parent low income household...but my mother, despite rarely being around due to her workload and night-school, placed a HUGE emphasis on education for me and my siblings. Now we all have degrees and we're doing better than she ever did - God bless all her hard work for us.
Definitely. Especially when it comes to putting black people into this box of what hip-hop culture is. Which is music that has become global and I feel is not even black culture...it's just hip hop/rap. I think that would be better. Instead of focusing on some kind of culture differences which I believe to be minimal. Focus on issues like single parent households and the importance of education. As for MLK. Who knows whether he'd be a democrat or republican. I think it's hard to say since the parties are both not really what they used to be since then. He was a religious man (as a lot of black people tend to be...) so who knows? I do think it's a interesting conversation to have about him.
He was a Republican at the time...today though I think he'd have to many issues with both parties & would be an independent.
Considering that John Lewis, Jesse Jackson and pretty much all of MLK's surviving cohorts became and remained active in the Democratic party I am pretty sure that MLK would be a Democrat. For that matter consider that MLK's views regarding wealth and income equality were pretty radical he would be a Democrat that could truly be considered a borderline Socialist. A lot of conservatives focus on MLK's spiritual views to argue that he would be more aligned to modern day Republicans. If anything the Modern day Tea Party views would be anathema to MLK.
His father was and then switched his endorsement once Kennedy got his son out of jail (for "speeding"). King's Republican-ness has been debunked and he appears to have not actually endorsed any political party, despite supporting and/or commenting on individual politicians.
The biggest problem with race relations in America today is the shift from fighting discrimination to rationalizing our differences and bickering over racism. I presume any reasonably successful minority has dealt with racism and has found a logical way to cope but on the national scale all races debate "who is/isn't racist this week". We should be at the point where a racist idiot can be swiftly reprimanded (without offense or linkage to his/her race) and we all move on to focus on any legitimate barriers that limit the success of minority groups, specifically poverty. I do believe if Dr. King were here today he would be focused on education. It's sad to see all of my wife's students that are close to graduation and just aren't anywhere near ready for "real life", falling prey to the inner city public school system. Then I go back to work and talk to all of my coworkers that grew up in great neighborhoods with access to the finest schools (private or public) in the country.
Bigtexxx dialogue on race "Black people be killin black and white people and it's because of that god darn rap music".
"In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men - yes, black men as well as white men - would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness... America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'" - “I Have a Dream”, August 28, 1963
