Happy Martin Luther King Day!
If I were in charge there would be NO mattress sales "honoring" Dr. King, which in fact trivialize the importance of his life. Rather, students would be in school to honor his commitment to education, and workers would be at work to honor his commitment to working people of all colors.
Our last hymn in church yesterday was "Lift Every Voice and Sing", which suddenly brought tears to my eyes. I thought at first it was in honor of the inauguration, but then I realized it was for Martin Luther King Day. I could hardly sing this hymn, also known as the Negro National Anthem. The words are amazing because despite the hardships, inequities, and injustices perpetrated upon people of color for the last 450 years or so, they are hopeful and downright patriotic.
When I asked my cousin Rochelle what people of color wish to be called, she told me that to her Negro is a term of high honor, reserved for those who worked hard through the civil rights struggle. Racial terms seem to me to go in cycles. When I was little, the polite term used was colored. It shifted to Negro, then to Afro-American, the to African-American, to black, is now people of color, and will eventually become, I believe, colored once again. The problem is that labels are meaningless, and as Dr. King said, what's important is the content of character, not the color of skin.
And there are many Caucasians who fled from South Africa and have become African-Americans, which is confusing at best.
Like "Lift Every Voice and Sing," the inauguration also brings tears to my eyes. I watch television coverage and read news reports in print and on line, and I have a hard time believing America has progressed to this place. We have actually elected a man of color to be president. Shezaam!
I am mentally arranging my day so nothing interferes with inauguration coverage. That may mean the dogs get walked much earlier or not at all. They may have to resort to romping in the back yard.
An article in the new Atlantic Magazine suggests we are post-racial. I certainly hope so. The thrust of the article, however, is that within most post-Baby Boomers' lifetimes, the United States will not be predominantly white. We are far more diverse a nation than our forefathers ever foresaw. And that's a good thing.
As always, I invite you to comment below.
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1 comment:
Only yesterday I noted that "I dream of the day when a man is judged not by the color of his skin but the content of his Facebook profile." The next day I heard from Bubs.
Glad to see you are still a seeker.
Karl Moltzen
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