Yesterday was the Martin Luther King march down Lake Avenue. Starting from City Hall, the marchers ended up at our Cultural Plaza. The street was flooded with every liberal, socialist, do-gooder, anti-war sympathizer, social justice Democrat, sprinkled in with politicians and those who are all "politically correct," and those with a dream all wanting peace and equality.
King was known as a radical and was investigated for being a communist as well as his many extra-marital affairs. Although King preached peace through non-violence and the obeyance of all laws, in 1968 he was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4, in Memphis, Tennessee.
People are poorer today than they were in 1968. Good paying full-time jobs are disappearing, and they are being replaced by low paying part-time jobs. Using the inflation calculator that the Bureau of Labor Statistics provides, $1.60 (minimum wage in 1968) is equivalent to $10.74 today. Our minimum wage in most states is much lower. We have encouraged immigration of the poor and the uneducated to our country which has bled our Treasury both nationally and in all the States. The division of rich and poor has grown.
Blacks are seven times more likely than people of other races to commit murder, and eight times more likely to commit robbery. Source: Mediapedia on Race and Crime. There is so much black on white crime today.
If King had not been assassinated when he was 39 years of age, he might have been just another great orator, a well-meaning citizen and one who had advocated for non-violence, for the poor and civil rights for all, a man helping his Race in particular or perhaps he still would have been a champion today. His untimely death immortalized him--he had already received the Nobel Peace Prize under Lyndon Johnson (1964) Later he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom under Jimmy Carter (1977) and the Congressional Gold Medal (2004). A national Holiday was declared in his name (1986) under Republican, Ronald Reagan.
Unfortunately, these many years later, we, as a society (other than electing the first black president in the history of our country), have taken big steps backwards. Crime has not been reduced, violence has escalated and we haven't solved a thing regarding the War on Poverty. There is more crime and more poor.
Some people have totally put aside his message--they still commit violence and still hate and get poorer. I wonder what Dr. King would have thought about it all.
4 comments:
This article is a thoughtful reflection about the progression and subsequent digression of our plaid black and white society. I too wonder what Dr. King would have thought about it all.
“True individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.” Franklin D. Roosevelt
Perhaps it would have been better if he had lived. I think he would have been appalled by the turn of events. The first African American president who divided the country even more. Sad.
What he did back 50 years ago was very brave. He ended up by the giving of his life to a racist..the ultimate sacrifice. And through his activism, the civil Rights Act was passed and integration began. We have come a long way. I personally do not know anyone who judge's someone by the color of their skin but judges their character and their intent.
Yes he believed in Peace and not hate as our President seems to believe in and encourages hate between the races and division between the poor and the rich, He has done more to divide our Country then any other Politician.
God help us.
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