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Is Dr. King’s America still just a dream?



About 150 people marched in downtown Lincolnton Jan. 20 to commemorate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his drive for racial reconciliation. 

With ongoing incidents of police brutality, a justice system tilted against African Americans and the growing wealth gap between blacks and whites, can we say we’re much closer to fulfilling King’s vision for America?

The march followed a weekend of festivities in Lincolnton celebrating King, including a breakfast featuring keynote speaker Phyllis Wingate, president of Atrium Health Cabarrus, and a gala at the Lincoln Cultural Center. 

The band at West Lincoln High School – home of the “Rebels,” by the way – led the participants from the courthouse to the cultural center for a ceremony presented by local church leaders. 

After reciting the Pledge of Allegiance – with special emphasis on the phrase “for all” – and singing the hymns “If it Had Not Been for the Lord on My Side” and “Oh Lord I Want You To Help Me,” Lincoln County resident Anthony Bunch recited King’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech. 

Chants of “yes” and “amen” echoed from the crowd as Bunch read, signaling that King’s words still resonate almost 60 years after the speech was delivered at the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. 

“I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood,” Bunch declared, as the crowd briefly applauded. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” 

 

The status of King’s dream 

The Rev. Brandon Myles of St. James United Methodist Church in Denver followed the recitation with a look back on King’s mission.

“Dr. King spoke of advancement and advantage in America, which is home of the free and equal opportunity,” Myles said. “Then, and now, we have the freedom to pursue happiness. But to (only) be seen as equal in the land of opportunity is not as good as it can be.” 

According to the Economic Policy Institute, more than 90 percent of African Americans ages 25 to 29 have a high school diploma. One in four African Americans now holds a college degree, up from just 10 percent in 1968. The average life expectancy for African Americans has also increased by 12 years since then. 

Myles went on to say King’s dream has come true in some ways, citing milestones like the election of President Barack Obama and the relevance of black athletes. 

When Myles mentioned Obama, I thought back to his inauguration in 2008. I knew the election of the first black president was a big deal. But, being 12 years old at the time, I didn’t understand why tears filled my grandparent’s eyes as they watched Obama take his oath of office. 

Now, I do. 

They and many other African Americans grew up in a time when they were forced to walk to school while white children who rode by on school buses pelted them with rocks. In a time when, if they were allowed to go in at all, they had to use the back entrance to the grocery store. In a time when they were forbidden from holding certain jobs because of their skin color. 

I’ll never forget the first picture I saw of the Obamas in the Oval Office. Who would have thought we’d come this far in just half a century? 

“The dream that America’s prosperity would become our prosperity has become a reality,” Myles said. 

Despite these accomplishments, Myles backtracked and noted that unfair treatment of black people, particularly in the judicial system, is rampant across the nation. He implied that societal problems will not be resolved as long as black people are not treated as equals. 

“Black boys are facing an insurmountable feat to become black men in America,” Myles said. “Racism hasn’t ceased.” 

According to the NAACP, African Americans make up a little more than 10 percent of the U.S. population, but in 2017 constituted 34 percent of the total correctional population in the nation. The organization found that if African Americans and Hispanics were incarcerated at the same rate as whites, prison populations would drop by 40 percent. 

The Sentencing Project, a compilation of state-level criminal justice data, found that one in three black men in America will be imprisoned at some point during his lifetime. 

The inequality goes far beyond the justice system. A 2016 Economic Policy Institute report found that the wealth gap between white men and black men had grown since the 1970s, rising from 22 percent to 31 percent. African Americans also have the highest poverty rate in the nation, at 27.4 percent. Just 10 percent of whites are under that same threshold. 

“If Dr. King were here today, he’d say America is a first-class country with second-class citizens,” Myles said. “Dr. King’s dream has come true, but only in bits and pieces.” 

 

‘Know your history’

To achieve King’s dream, Myles said people must be educated about the past so they can take steps to move forward. 

“The train starts with the consciousness of history,” said Myles. “If you don’t know your history, you best believe you will repeat your history.” 

For me and a lot of other young people, organizing is the hard part. We all have smartphones, which give us access to an abundance of information about anything. Most of us have the tools and resources to learn about our history. 

But we tend to define “activism” a bit differently. Instead of marching, we use hashtags that are trending. Instead of sit-ins to protest, we “cancel” businesses. Instead of giving speeches, we use threads on Twitter. 

Even during the Black Lives Matter movement, many people took to the streets and marched against police brutality. At the same time, #BlackLivesMatter was mentioned more than 11.7 million times on Twitter and generated 31.3 billion impressions in 2016 alone. 

But if there’s one thing I’ve learned about social media in the last few years, it’s that hashtags are great for bringing awareness to something, but not-so-great for driving actual change. 

Near the end of his sermon, Myles hinted that racism is not innate – it is taught. When learning about African American history, he said, it is important to consider how other races, cultures and genders will impact the world. In many ways, the African American struggle intersects with problems other marginalized groups face in this country, he said. 

King’s dream was that people be judged by their character, not by their skin color. Myles said prejudices often can be based on other factors such as age, gender and income. While it is impossible to control others’ perceptions, he said, there is one thing that takes precedence over any type of hate. 

“Judgment of others will always exist,” said Myles. “But love is universal.”  

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