America is a place where all people are equal under the law. However, what many take for granted today has not always been a reality for all Americans.
Keeping the American Dream Alive
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. His name has become synonymous with equality and human dignity for all people regardless of skin color. In American civics we are educated about the legacy Dr. King contributed towards making our country more united. Although a lot or people understand that this day commemorates the sacrifice of so many brave men and who struggled towards equality in America, there are some who might just see this as one of many Federal Holidays. For that reason, I wanted to take a moment to reflect and share my thoughts on what MLK day signifies to me as an American Citizen.
We commemorate Martin Luther King Day the third Monday of January. Dr. King was born on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. He was assassinated with a firearm on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. King was only 39 years old at the time he was assassinated. However, his legacy will forever live. The gunman who tried silencing Dr. King by cowardly ending his life, only achieved to amplify Dr. Kings message further through the eons and around the world. Clearly that was not what the gunman wanted, but the point I want to drive is that no matter if a nefarious person tries to silence what is right, the facts are impervious to sabotage. What is correct, in this case Dr. King’s message, was that our country needed to heal as a nation.
There are a lot of biographical pieces on Dr. King and all of those who bravely followed him during the many beleaguered hurdles of the civil rights movement. If you haven’t had the opportunity to review this part of our history; I would like to invite you to do more independent research on them. You will find that their stories are not only numerous, but independently inspiring. They faced adversity in a racial war in our own homeland.
Unfortunately, a lot of this history seems to be lost in a great swat of our population. Let’s add some context to highlight why this part of history is so significant. Let’s start with The Emancipation Proclamation. Issued by President Abraham Lincoln on January 1, 1863 – this declared quote “that all person’s held as slaves” within the rebellious state, “are, and henceforward shall be free.”
Sure enough, there were those who disagreed with the mere concept of this statement, and several states seceded from the United States. Talks about freeing slaves was gaining traction – but it took a while for all these preambles to take shape. So even though the emancipation proclamation was issued in 1863, Lincoln issued a preliminary part of the Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862.
Among other things, people opposed to Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, also held strong convictions about what they categorized as their “right” to own other human beings as property. In other words, they wanted to keep slavery, because among other things it was good for their economy.
Whatever the reason people wanted to rationalize, I find despicable the fact of anybody ever thinking they have the “right” to own another human being. But such were the times. These dissenting views escalated into what is today known as the American Civil War, which lasted from April 12, 1861, until April 9, 1865. And yes, the Emancipation Proclamation occurred while the Civil War was raging on. In the end the Union prevailed over the Confederacy, and the Confederacy was once again reunited with the rest of the United States. However, although Slavery was now illegal, things did not necessarily get better for former slaves.
One of the dark realities we need to come to terms about the older generations, is that what they considered lawful and fair, was not what would be considered acceptable today. Discrimination and dehumanization of anybody who looked different was legalized in many states – essentially if you were a minority of any kind, your life was not going to be easy at all. Minorities, particularly people of color were considered lesser than their majority counterparts. Lynchings, crimes, and other atrocities against minorities were not only commonplace, but for many even condoned and encouraged.
I know that seeing our world today it might seem hard to believe that some Americans could be so cruel towards other Americans just because of the color of their skin. But unfortunately, the tables were tilted against the minorities at the time. We cannot change the past, and we cannot hold citizens who are in the present responsible for the atrocities of the older generations committed. Each person chose their own path at those darker times. Some Americans were in the right, and some were in the wrong side of history. And slaving or treating any human being less than a human was indeed the wrong side of history.
The infamous era of Jim Crow Law was primarily enacted in Southern States – which by the way included many states that were part of the former Confederacy during the Civil War. These laws were designed to segregate and disenfranchise African Americans. I’ll write at some point about Jim Crow because there is a lot to talk about. But for now, if you’ve ever seen any old photographs of segregation of white and black people on anything in society; including water fountains, schools, where they could sit in a bus, or even what areas they were able to live or even move about without being prosecuted… these dehumanizing practices were an integral part or Jim Crow. And it was legal. And in case you didn’t not figure out, the lesser quality of any segregating tool in existence was of course destined to the people in the minority.
Jim Crow took place from the late 19th century and enforced until 1965. Different states across the U.S. started enforcing these laws at different times. And yes, many states other than former Confederacy states also adopted Jim Crow as their law. Which comes to show that this process was a deliberated politically poignant issue… which means people actually voted in favor of treating others as lesser humans. I will never understand how people can be this cruel.
Much like in times of the Civil War, some states made it illegal to discriminate against other human beings – and were considered a safer heaven for people of color. But just like today, that does not mean that people of color were free from prosecution. Bigotry existed even in states where Jim Crow was not the law. Why? Because people have misconceptions and biases. And a huge bias that existed was the erroneous rationalization that some people are superior to others. Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was not only inspiring but was the enunciation of the voices of millions of Americans who were disenfranchised, merely by their color of their skin.
MLK speech at the National Mall in Washington D.C.
We can only wish Dr. King was alive now to see how his words and his leadership resonated around the world. As I said before, we cannot be held responsible for what our ancestors did. They were responsible for their actions and even if they lived a lie thinking they were in the right whist mistreating other humans – that was their decision, and any bigotry associated with that will live attached to them for eternity. We have a very short time alive in this world, but the legacy of our actions will live forever, as long as the pages of history live on.
And with that thought, when I reflect upon MLK day, I ask myself: What legacy will our current generation leave behind? Today, you and I are the future of this country, and indeed the future of this world. We make history every day – even if we don’t realize it. Our actions, our words, our very attention to issues that affect our world are part of the legacy we’ll leave behind.
Unfortunately, I would be remiss if I did not state the obvious. Bigotry and racism still exist. It is sad, but it is real. Racism is born from ignorance and unwarranted fear. The cure is easier than we think, education and empathy. We are all more similar than we are different, and there is one additional realization. There is no actual race. We are all human, and color is skin deep.
If a person gets a blood transfusion, or an organ transplant, it does not matter what color the was the person’s skin. We all bleed red, and we all belong to the same race – the human race. We might look a bit different, but we are all human. The only difference is that some humans for direct or indirect reasons choose to place themselves in the wrong side of history. Dr. King showed ups what the right side of history looks like. HLC