Martin Luther King

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is a true icon in American history. Certainly, there was controversy at times as to how Dr. King responded to some of the events of his day, but that should only be expected when attempting the impossible feats of ending segregation in public schools, obtaining meaningful civil rights legislation, among the many wonderful things that Dr. King accomplished in his life. For example, Dr. King’s stated opposition to the Vietnam War turned even some of his staunch supporters against him, but, as it turned out, Martin Luther King truly had a panoramic view of the world, and, indeed, the Vietnam War ended.

Yes, the world has changed. Barack Obama has become President of the United States, an event that would have been unimaginable a generation ago. Stan O’Neal – you wouldn’t know it by his name, but, he is the grandson of a former slave – was the CEO of Merrill Lynch for over 6 years and he effectively stewarded that company until, of course, the major financial collapse. Wilma Mankiller is unknown to most people, but she has a most compelling story as she did the unthinkable and was elected the first female principal chief of the Cherokee Nation. Chief Mankiller received wide acclaim for bringing tremendous advances to the Cherokees, including significantly improving education and health care, overseeing the construction of new schools, creating job-training centers, and establishing health clinics.

The great strides that our society has made that enable such gifted and talented individuals to live up to their potential most certainly are attributed directly to the foresight and wisdom of Dr. King to strive for equality. But the triumphs of the Obama’s and O’Neal’s and such others is only part of the story; Affirmative Action and its many nuances is the other part. Affirmative Action is not a clearly defined law; rather, it is a set of guidelines established by businesses, schools, and all levels of government. Affirmative Action, which came about following the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Civil Rights Act of 1968, has manifested itself as a mechanical quota system. On the one hand, Affirmative Action has caused a huge backlash – the outcry against so-called reverse discrimination; on the other hand, Malcolm X, while not a mainline civil rights thinker, considered Affirmative Action a dead-end as far back as 40 years ago. The contention then, as now, is: how can someone hold his head high knowing that the only reason he obtained some job or position is because he fulfilled a quota? There are many who now understand, as did Malcolm X, that Affirmative Action hasn’t helped minority and disadvantaged people realize real equality. Dr. King’s dreams, and all our dreams for that matter, are still far from being fulfilled. There still remains much that we must accomplish.

Dr. King, of course, was a martyr and gave his life for the cause of freedom. But the greatest gift that he gave to us is to show us how ordinary, beleaguered, and, yes, even downtrodden, disenfranchised, people can fight the system by peaceful, non-violent means. It has been said that Dr. King was the greatest community organizer of them all. The March on Washington and the “I have a dream” speech was the culmination (and the beginning) of years of community organizing. Parenthetically, it would seem that Sarah Palin has now found her inner community organizer. Bravo. I’m sure that there’s a lot that she and all of us can learn from Dr. King.