The Dream Of MLK, Jr. Has Not Been Fulfilled In America

In 1963, during the March on Washington, Martin Luther King gave a speech that is not remembered as one of the great oratorical moments in U.S. history. In that speech, he said:

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right down in Alabama little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today.

That was a wonderful dream. And a couple of years later, it seemed like America was on the way to seeing the dream fulfilled. In the mid to late 1960's, President Johnson pushed three civil rights bills through Congress and signed them into law. Then we saw voting rights bills passed with majorities of both parties. And in 2008, the nation elected its first Black leader -- President Barack Obama.

Obviously, much progress had been made, and many in the country assumed the progress would continue. But that assumption has proved to not be accurate. The progress toward equality scared a lot of racists and white supremacists, and sadly, they numbered in the millions. They had taken control of the Republican Party, and while too many voters stayed home on Election Day, they were able to elect one of their own to be president.

This emboldened them to come back out in the open. Violence against minorities became more common -- both in the police and in the public at large. This could have been fixed, but Republicans on both the state and national level, following the wishes of their orange demagogue, blocked efforts to protect rights and lives.

Then, after losing the 2020 election, the GOP racists began to pass laws to suppress the voting rights of many Americans -- especially people of color. Most of this occurred in red states, but it was protected by Republicans in the national government. Their dream is to reinstate their white supremacist leader (Donald Trump).

Progress is no longer being made towards assuring equality of all Americans. In fact, it seems like we are regressing. But regressing or just standing still, one thing is certain -- Dr. King's dream has not been realized in the United States, and there are many determined to keep that dream from being fully realized.

This should be unacceptable to all who believe in the American Dream, and Dr. King's dream. We must rededicate ourselves to achieving equality for all Americans in all areas of our society.

An American Hero And Fixing A Flawed Vision

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today.

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

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 that I go back to the South with. 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 slopes 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 molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.

And when this happens, when we allow freedom to 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!"

Last Saturday night, I heard one of our modern politicians say that our Founding Fathers "had it right". That is a popular notion these days. It is also wrong. While they had the vision to create a new Republic and set it on the path toward justice and freedom, we must admit that their vision was seriously flawed.

Among other injustices, their flawed vision allowed for the existence of slavery and counted these slaves as only three/fifths of a person. Fortunately, through the efforts of great American heroes like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we have been able to correct their flawed vision in many ways. But it is still a work in progress.

Maybe someday, with a little luck and a lot of hard work and sacrifice, we can truly make that flawed vision "right".