Every Martin Luther King Jr day, whites all over the nation drag out King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech and pat themselves on the back about how far we’ve come as a just society.
I suggest we try one of his other speeches for a change, “Where Do We Go From Here?”, from 1967:
I want to say to you as I move to my conclusion, as we talk about “Where do we go from here?” that we must honestly face the fact that the movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society. There are forty million poor people here, and one day we must ask the question, “Why are there forty million poor people in America?”
And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising a question about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I’m simply saying that more and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life’s marketplace. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised.
And you see, my friends, when you deal with this you begin to ask the question, “Who owns the oil?” You begin to ask the question, “Who owns the iron ore?” You begin to ask the question, “Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that’s two-thirds water?” These are words that must be said. […]
Now, when I say questioning the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problem of racism, the problem of economic exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated.
And where are we almost 40 years later? As of 2003 there were at least 35.9 million people living below the poverty line, with African Americans at nearly double the national rate. (And that doesn’t even include most of the poor. A single mother with one child can be making only $12,500 a year and be considered above the poverty line.)
I’m not saying we haven’t made progress since 1967—we surely have—but I would argue that we still have a very long way to go before we get anywhere near to realizing Dr. King’s dream.
Sam Rocha Says:
January 16th, 2006 at 8:25 pm
HI! Great Blog! I linked over here on a Blog search, today I posted an article on a perspective on MLK Jr. Day, check it out if you’d like… I’ve enjoyed reading through your archives, I’d love to establish a reciprocal link with your blog, let me know if you’re interested:
www.debaterelatepontificate.blogspot.com