Content of character, color of skin

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.

-Martin Luther King

It's odd really.

Those words, spoken 45 years ago, are words frequently cited and often quoted, and rightfully so.  Today, many quote and cite them again as they proclaim the historicity and the importance of Barack Obama and his meteoric political rise to the Democratic nomination.

To ignore the history and importance of it all is foolish, even lame.  I recognize that this is something, if we're still around and cogent 20 or 30 years from now, we'll talk about with that do-you-remember-when look in our eyes.  And on future anniversaries, we'll look back and do so with distinction, with clarity and with the knowledge that we watched it all.  In that light and on this night, we should all tip our hats. 

And so I do.

But.

And it's a huge but.

The content of this man's character, as revealed by his partnering with a racist church for 20+ years, as revealed by his ties to an unrepentant domestic terrorist, as revealed by his relationship to someone convicted of fraud and bribery, as revealed by his radical views on abortion, as revealed by his flip-flopping on current issues and his lies told time and again to in some way minimize all of it, has been ignored and is being ignored.

And let there be little question about the color of his skin playing a huge role in his becoming the Democratic nominee.

Tonight, as the world looks on to celebrate the rise of a half-black man, on the anniversary of a speech that marked the turning of a corner for this great nation, let's certainly trumpet his achievement and let's rightfully cheer the occasion.  For a moment.  A very brief moment.

But please don't think for a minute that Barack Obama embodies what it was that Martin Luther King dreamed about.

Just don't.

Because that thinking is a bald lie.

Barack Obama is a walking example and a living testament to the idea that Martin Luther King's dream has yet to materialize. 

Don't be fooled into thinking anything else.

Comments

[tim aka The Godless Heathen]

Well said Rick.

[Tierrah Twitty]

I know that is right. It is so true how everyone is trying to ignore the fact that Obama is embiding the same things that Martian Luther King jr. said in the I Have a Dream Speech. that is an alright article.