Columnist E.J. Dionne write in this column that the death of Dr. King, along with RFK's assassination, began the end of the progressive movement that was gaining powerful momentum in our country. It's too bad: From Nixon on, we have de-evolved, dehumanized and de-communitized this country into "I got mine, so go screw yourself" cloaked under some very corrupted tense of conservatism. On a side note, I really doubt that the reality we find ourselves in is what Ronald Reagan or Milton Friedman had in mind. But no matter.
Then there were these kids. On a typical Spring night in the nation's capitol, tourists stream from the respective quadrants to converge upon the National Mall. Usually, they go see the Washington Monument and then head over to the Lincoln Memorial. I know that was the first thing I did when I first came here. On the steps leading up to honest Abe is a placard notating where King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. These group of students were reciting that speech.
No TV cameras, no journalists that I could see. Just a group of students and teachers egging them on. It was nice in a way to see students read the entire thing.
Yet, as the tourists passed them by to check out Illuminated Abe, I have to wonder: How far are we really? While we might be on the cusp of electing the first African-American President (if the first viable female candidate doesn't destroy him first), the deviation is pronounced in D.C. I mean, it's really obvious. Yet, another development and another law change pushes low-income further and further out.
For me, race relations is an odd one. Technically, I'm half-Latino. Venezuelan, to be exact. My biological father is from Caracas, yet I have no identification or connection with the Venezuelan culture. None. I can't even speak Spanish. How bad is that? My maternal grandfather is part Choctaw, but I have no connection with that either.
Even coming from a very diverse part of this country, issues of race are still difficult to come to a pervading sense of awareness. I was 12 when the L.A. riots occured. I still remember my white friend being beat up by some black guys, while two black girls saw me and said "you better leave or else you're next." I was robbed by a black man when I was 17. I was on a walk and he asked to speak to me. He pulled a knife and told me he was going to kill me if I didn't give him my CD player. It was a stupid Walkman and I was going to die for that. Even now, it is difficult to acknowledge a black man who crosses me on the street.
These are my experiences, but I know many white individuals that can identify. In high school, a great teacher of mine told me that I was going to have a hard time getting scholarships because I had zero ethnicity. The truth was, I did have a great and grand ethnicity on my biological father's side, as well as being partially Choctaw Indian, plus various Euro-ethnicity's. Yet, I was white.
What encouraged me about Obama's speech on race and some cogent talk about race relations is that we as a country aren't directly addressing a major shift concerning race, but that we might be coming to a point where we can. In about 25 years, maybe less, "white" won't be a majority. There won't be a majority. When it comes to race, everyone will officially be a minority. There will be more of one group than another, but no one can claim majority rules. I respectfully offer that freaks a lot of white people out. It's no surprise that the loudest detractors of Rev. Wright were white men, probably Catholic and definitely part of the "Conservative" movement that stems from Nixon and William F. Buckley.
If we were honest with ourselves for just a second, I think we as "white people" could agree to two things. First, cultural assimilation has done the most harm to white people in America. What is a white person in America? Either it's WASP or white trash. The middle is suburbia, but even that falls along trash or treasure lines. There is no appreciation for native culture, be it German or Scandinavian or whatnot. The creation of "American" was a continuing process of accepting majority norms while taking from the novel and uniqueness of minority cultures. Yet, it has created two choices, white and off-white. So, we have come to this very odd paradox: The answer of what it means to be white is often the same as what it means to be American. This isn't reality, yet the perception is what is reported on Fox.
Second, we as a nation haven't been honest with ourselves that supply-side economics doesn't work for us. It might work for some other country, but not here. Limits are a good thing and the government (especially if it's a representative government like we say it is) is meant to be provide a social infrastructure. That hasn't happened and really, hasn't happened for quite some time. No one is honestly talking about stagnant wages. Why is the gap between expenses and wages so big? It's because we dismantled parts of the regulatory mechanisms of government in favor of the Free Market the Friendly Ghost. This has affected everybody, but when it affects white people, it does create resentment and yes, bitterness.
OK, enough with my treatise. For those that stumble upon this and want to send nasty anonymous notes to me, do so on this phrase. Race matters. Racism is the great sin of America and race is the great testament to America. I feel that Dr. King's true realization of his dream was that we can seek race as difference and diversity, not the catalyst for inequality. Those things that make us who we are: Race, gender, religion, sexuality are what creates difference. Difference is good. We don't want to get to a point where race doesn't matter. I want race to matter. Otherwise, humanity will be dull and boring. I want people to be judged on their character so they can achieve a dream. I want a government that has a safety net so that people don't declare bankruptcy because of medical bills or will struggle because of obscene profit margins and lack of sustainable wage growth.
I leave you with a segment of the last speech of King.
