MLK -- what would he say today?

[Joe Baker]

Most of you are familiar with the speech, though I don't know if they actually allow it to be read in schools these days. Gotta maintain that separation of church and state, you know. But to refresh everyone's memory, or perhaps expose you for the first time to the actual speech:

• I have a dream today.
  
  I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
  
  This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. 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.'
  
  And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
  
  Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
  
  Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California!
  
  But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
  
  Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
  
  Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
  
  When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Dr. King says nothing about quotas. Nothing about set-asides. Nothing about health care, housing, or the zillions of other "solutions" that have been tried to make everyone equal. He understood that with freedom, every man can become what he has within him to become, to achieve what he has within him to achieve. With a Section 8 voucher, a man can get his family a third rate apartment; with freedom he can build them a home and give them a future. With food stamps he can give them a decent meal, but with freedom he can earn them a decent meal and give them their dignity. With a welfare check a man can get a handout, but with freedom he can earn respect. Dr. King understood that what black Americans lacked wasn't material in nature; they lacked freedom!

Remember, freedom never COMES FROM government. Our freedoms come from our creator, as unalienable rights; the Bill of Rights is not there to grant rights, but to constrain government from taking them away. More government does not mean more freedom; it generally means less.

What would happen if we quit trying all the other crap and actually tried Dr. King's proposed solution -- "Let Freedom Ring"?

What are YOU doing to further the cause of freedom?

What are YOU doing with the freedoms you have now -- freedoms that others have fought and died to protect?
____________________________
Joe Baker, who is asking himself these questions today, and feeling a bit squirmish with some of his answers.

[TubaRay]

Dr. King understood that what black Americans lacked wasn't material in nature; they lacked freedom!

I enjoyed your post very much, Joe. I thought the above quote was especially profound. I am very much opposed to most of the so-called solutions we have come up with. I very much am in favor of freedom for all of us.

[Tom Mason]

You asked what Dr. King might say today.

Some might flame me for this, but I have this feeling that Dr. King would say "Go to school today and work on being a better person. Both educationally and socially, work on being the best person you can be."

I appreciate the fact that people want to honor the man. I do feel however that he would be more honored if schools were not cancelled for the day.

In the same light, President's Day gets the same response from me, and I will not have classes that day either.

Tom Mason

[Tubaryan12]

Our veterans served, sacrificed, and died to give people like MLK the opportunity to do what he did.

Last time I checked, the reason Dr. King and others did what they did was because the opportunity to be treated as equal wasn't there. Our veterans need to be treated with more respect and dignity, but the above statement is just out of place in this situation.

[windshieldbug]

I think we should celebrate both, and I agree that Dr. King seemed more about action than celebration. And although the programs that have resulted are far from ideal, they ARE pushing our society in the right direction, painful as the result may be, and that IS something to be celebrated.

Why we don't make veteran's day a similar, though very different, holiday is beyond me.

[SplatterTone]

I would prefer it be called Civil Rights Day. Now that Columbus day has fallen into a significant degree of political incorrectness and seems to be on its way out, this leaves MLK as the one and only person in American history with a holiday. I'm not trying to dimiss his influence, but I wouldn't consider him to be the most important American who ever lived. I think elevating MLK to this status diminishes to some extent the contribution to equality and civil rights made by others. For example, if my history isn't too fogged up, I think LBJ produced a significant amount of real, tangible positive results in this area.

[Tubaryan12]

I would prefer it be called Civil Rights Day. Now that Columbus day has fallen into a significant degree of political incorrectness and seems to be on its way out, this leaves MLK as the one and only person in American history with a holiday. ....For example, if my history isn't too fogged up, I think LBJ produced a significant amount of real, tangible positive results in this area.

The 1st part will be taken care of with time. All holidays like this fade in significance with time. When I was a kid, we used to get out of school in Ohio for "Kent State" Day.

The 2nd part is also true. Presidents have the ability to change things with the stroke of a pen what others have to change with blood.

[Tubaryan12]

though many things that Presidents do change with the stroke of a pen (whether intended or not) result in the shedding of others' blood.

Indeed.

[SplatterTone]

Yes. And that is probably why he does not figure prominently in civil rights remembrances. However, much of what he did in this area was of his initiative and beliefs (although a lot of what seemed like a good idea at the time turned out not to work as well as planned).

[trseaman]

I would prefer it be called Civil Rights Day.

I totally agree, there are too many people in this country that have done far more and will never have a day named after them... Political pressure perhaps???

I was wondering... All the schools are out today, and most businesses are closed. That's all fine and good, but why is that not true on Veteran's Day? Aren't we putting the cart before the horse? Our veterans served, sacrificed, and died to give people like MLK the opportunity to do what he did. Why then, aren't the veterans honored in AT LEAST the same way? Maybe they are where you live, but businesses are open, and schools are in session on Veteran's Day. Just wondering...

In an ironic twist, I have an appointment at a Veterans health clinic today... They're open!

It doesn't make sense...

[Tubaryan12]

In an ironic twist, I have an appointment at a Veterans health clinic today... They're open!

It doesn't make sense...

Actually this does make sense. Veterans should never have to wait for their services. Weekends, holidays....whatever. Any day they need help there should be someone there to help without delay.

[Kevin Miller]

Careful Joe! Posting that speech without permission could get you in trouble with the King family.
It seems that the King family is keeping a tight rein over the words spoken by MLK. A Fox News talking head lamented that many kids today aren't being exposed to the "I Have a Dream" speech because the King family is limiting access and use. Shouln't such a universal message of freedom and equality be available to all the people? Apparently not if you can make a buck off it.

http://www.cnn.com/US/9905/11/king.speech.02/

[Tubaryan12]

Careful Joe! Posting that speech without permission could get you in trouble with the King family.
It seems that the King family is keeping a tight rein over the words spoken by MLK. A Fox News talking head lamented that many kids today aren't being exposed to the "I Have a Dream" speech because the King family is limiting access and use. Shouln't such a universal message of freedom and equality be available to all the people? Apparently not if you can make a buck off it.

http://www.cnn.com/US/9905/11/king.speech.02/

CBS seems to be making quite a few bucks off of it:

"Let's talk about who's being greedy," Beck said. "We give the speech to schools for free. We give the speech to non-profits and churches for free. CBS -- they don't deny it -- charges $1,000 a minute for a public school to have access to 'I Have a Dream.'"

CBS officials said they determine charges on a case-by-case basis.

[Dylan King]

One thing I know as a distant relative of Dr. MLK is he would be abhored by the actions and sayings of his supposed good friend, Jesse Jackson.

From Broadway the Hard Way
Frank Zappa
"Rhymin' Man"

Rhymin' Man,
Tall and tan,
Rhyme or reason,
Play your hand --
Rhyme on this -- rhyme on that
Oh, you naughty Democrat!

They say when Doctor King got shot,
Jesse hatched an awful plot,
Dipped his hands in the Doctor's blood,
'N rubbed his shirt like playin' with mud
Looked around for all the press,
Said: "Check me out, my name is Jess!
I'll be known from towns 'n farms --
Doctor King died in my arms!"

Rhymin' Man,
Tall and tan,
Rhyme or reason,
Play your hand --
Rhyme on this -- rhyme on that
Oh, you naughty Democrat!

A few years later, legend says,
Rhymin' man made a run for Prez
Farrakhan made him a clown,
Over there near Hymie-Town
Said he was a diplomat --
Hobbin' an-a-knobbin' with Arafat
Castro was simpatico,
Though the U.S. voters, they said: "No!"

Rhymin' Man,
Tall and tan,
Rhyme or reason,
Play your hand --
Rhyme on this -- rhyme on that
Oh, you naughty Democrat!

Okay, here we go again!
Rhymin' Man says he's your friend
Any fool can make a rhyme --
Cowboys do it all the time
(We could do, they sure do)
People say: "Now he's mature!"
Cowboys rhyme that with horse manure

Horse manure!
(Horse manure)
That's for sure!
You been cheatin' --
We kept score!
Are you "this"?
Or are you "that"?
Oh, you naughty
Demo . . . (crat!)
Democrat!

[windshieldbug]

... and I submit that IF we are moving, then we are moving in the right direction, anyway...

[TubaRay]

the message of MLK has been bastardized from the original intent and the bastards are everywhere....

I can agree with this, too.