Indeed Senator Barack Obama's ascendancy has blasted myths, stereotypes and assumptions about this country to smithereens. It is historic and we may well be witnessing the start of something wonderful. Whether or not Senator Obama becomes president, we have turned a crucial corner on our journey to fulfill Dr. King's vision. Obama's explosion has sent shards of change far and wide across the nation and the globe. Tonight the way forward became a bit clearer, our steps a bit livelier and our load a bit lighter. In honor of Dr. King's passionate vision and Senator Obama's embodiment of that dream, let's compare several key themes in both historic speeches...
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."
Setting: The most obvious similarity between these speeches is the venue. Sure Dr. King was at the actual Lincoln Memorial while Senator Obama built a reasonable fascimile in Denver's Mile High Stadium.
On Unity:
King: "I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers."
Obama: "Four years ago, I stood before you and told you my story-- of the brief union between a young man from Kenya and a young woman from Kansas who weren't well off or well-known, but shared a belief that in America, their son could achieve whatever he put his mind to. It is that promise that has always set this country apart-- that through hard work and sacrifice, each of us can pursue our individual dreams but still come together as one American family, to ensure that the next generation can pursue their dreams as well."
King: "In a sense we have 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. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation."
Obama: "Tonight, more Americans are out of work and more are working harder for less. More of you have lost your home and even more are watching your home values plummet. More of you have cars that you can't afford to drive, credit card bills you can't afford to pay , and tuition that's beyond your reach. These challenges are not all of government's making. But the failure to respond is a direct result of a broken politics in Washington and the failed policies of George W. Bush."
On Capturing the Moment:
King: "Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning."
Obama: "Tonight, I say to the American people, to Democrats and Republicans and Independents across this great land-- enough! This moment-- this election-- is our chance to keep, in the 21st century, the American promise alive. Because next week, in Minnesota, the same party that brought you two terms of George Bush and Dick Cheney will ask this country for a third. And we are here because we love the country too much to let the next four years look like the last eight. On November 4th, we must stand up and say: 'Eight is enough.'"
On the Road Ahead:
King: "This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
Obama: "We cannot walk alone," the preacher cried. "And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we chall always march ahead. We cannot turn back." America, we cannot turn back. Not with so much work to be done. Not with so many children to educate, and so many veterans to care for. Not with an economy to fix and cities to rebuild and farms to save. Not with so many families to protect and so many lives to mend. America, we cannot turn back. We cannot walk alone. At this moment, in this election, we must pledge once more to march into the future. Let us keep that promise-- that American promise-- and in the words of Scripture hold firmly, without wavering, to the hope that we confess."
And the similarities don't end there. Yet for all the likenesses, the fact remains that Senator Obama has delivered a much different speech in a much different time--living out a dream that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. challenged us to envision so many years ago.
1. How can the McCain camp top this convention? It just can't be done and McCain just can't win this election. Last night is what I call a PARTY! I seen people of every nationality dancing and screeming together for Barack Obama.
Judy Ferguson at 7:22AM on Aug 29th 2008