A Dream Fulfilled?
45 Years After King's Famous Speech
Exactly forty-five years separate the dates of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream Speech" in Washington, DC and Barack Obama's Democratic nomination acceptance speech in Denver, CO. Obama is the first black to accept a presidential nomination from a major political party and his accomplishment serves as a powerful reminder of how far black people have come since 1963. Has the dream King described been fulfilled? Here's Black Voices' report card comparing what he dreamed of and what has actually happened.
AFP / Getty Images
Economics -Then
"One hundred years [after the Emancipation Proclamation], the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity."
Express Newspapers, Getty Images
Economics-Now
The Black poverty rate is no longer 42 percent, as it was back in 1966, three years after King's speech. Yet despite the growth of the black middle class, many blacks are still marooned on an island of poverty. In 2006 the poverty rate for blacks was 24 percent-three times that of whites; the median net worth for white households is $88,000, more than fourteen times that for black households ($5,988).
Mario Tama, Getty Images
Police Brutality -Then
"We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality."
Harry Benson, Getty Images
Police Brutality -Now
Blacks, as well as others, still suffer brutality at the hands of law enforcement. Sean Bell, Abner Louima, Amadou Diallo, and Rodney King are just a few of the more well-known victims of violence by cops.
Time & Life Pictures, Getty Images
Segregation -Then
"We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities."
George Tames, Getty Images
Segregation-Now
While legal segregation is dead and "Whites Only" lodging is a thing of the past, de facto segregation still exists where we live and where our children go to school. Two-thirds of black and Latino students in big cities attend schools with less than 10 percent white students, according to the Civil Rights Project.
Mario Tama, Getty Images
Voting Rights-Then
"We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote."
National Archive / Newsmakers / Getty Images
Voting Rights-Now
Jim Crow laws are dead and blacks are free to vote unfettered now-in theory. In reality, whether by choice or hindrance, blacks continue to vote in lower percentages than whites. Fifty-six percent of blacks voted in the 2004 presidential election, down slightly from 58% in 1964. Meanwhile, states have voter laws requiring picture IDs (an expense hindering a greater proportion of blacks than whites); laws that prevent felons from voting affect as many as 13% of black men (as well as others); voter rolls have been purged of eligible voters-disproportionately black-because their names are similar to those of felons; and other reports of black voter suppression abound.
Discrimination-Then
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Many folks say Obama's meteoric rise to fame represents a new "colorblind" America; that his immense popularity exemplifies the acceptance and assimilation of African Americans into mainstream society. To a certain extent this is true, but blacks are still discriminated against every day. Hate crimes still persist and race has been the constant topic of discussion since Obama began running for the White House, signaling that skin color is still a consideration for some voters.
Click Here For More Analysis: "Pieces Of The Dream"
For some blacks, Obama--the Ivy League-educated son of a Kenyan father and a white mother--isn't a fair representation of them or their experience. He has been accused of talking white or being an elitist. For these critics, his race alone isn't enough for African Americans to get behind his political mission or ideal. His rhetoric isn't powerful enough to convince them to stage marches, hold rallies, or to stand up to injustices that persist in this country. So, while he is speaking on a day identified with Martin Luther King, Jr., he arguably lacks the authority to sway some of his own people to cast their ballots in his favor.
To those people of color who doubt him because they've bought into the stereotypes perpetuated about our race, i.e. we shouldn't speak proper English or be well educated, I say this: "What other black person do you know who has represented our race so eloquently? Jesse Jackson? Al Sharpton? "
Instead of criticizing Obama and pointing daggers at the man, I suggest that we just embrace that fact that on the anniversary of the "I Have a Dream Speech," there is a black man accepting the Democratic presidential nomination, a man proving once and for all that we are created equal to all other men and women on the planet.
Yes, we have far to go on many fronts, and many of the problems I challenge African Americans to recognize how many in our community have struggled and died for such a moment. For that reason, if nothing else, somewhere Martin Luther King, Jr. is smiling.
Dream fulfilled Martin! Dream fulfilled!
1. The U.S. is an extremely racist and bigoted country!
Why else would this year's election even be this close?
rex schaefer at 6:47AM on Aug 28th 2008