In August 1963, in the heat of the civil-rights movement, Martin Luther King Jr. courageously and famously gave his “I Have A Dream” speech.
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!
Five years later, on April 4, 1968, Dr. King was assassinated for the vision he so powerfully articulated. Perhaps this speech was the high-water mark in fulfilling the “promissory note” King refers to in his speech:
When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
A new segregationist movement threatens a pro-human society
Martin Luther King was pro-human. His life and tragic death, and the civil-rights movement he led, have made remarkable progress toward the fulfillment of that promissory note, toward the day when his offspring would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
But recently, a new segregationist spirit has taken over our nation. We are being divided by a new racism, a call to identify not by our common humanity, but by the color of our skin. This is tragic, even diabolical.
Last summer, in the heat and turmoil of the Covid pandemic, during the riots and looting in American cities, I wrote a blog “Hope in the Midst of Despair.” My desire was to remind us that we are of one race, the human race. We are to be judged by the content of our character, not the color of our skin.
I recently discovered a short, pro-human video by a man named Bion Bartning, a father who is tired of racism (both its old and the new forms) and pushing back. Bion is half Mexican and Yaqui, and half Jewish. He understands the truth that there is only one human race. Bartning has produced a short and powerful message that every human being needs to hear: The Pro-Human Answer to Intolerance & Racism. Please take a few minutes to hear him, and if you are encouraged, pass this blog post on to others.
As we remember the 58th anniversary of the I Have a Dream speech, let us renew our commitment to working to fulfill that great promissory note.
- Darrow Miller
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