Aug
31
Written by:
Dr. Ernie Moore
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
The Glenn Beck march on Washington has brought out a sort of “he’s our guy and you keep your hands off of him” attitude by some who present themselves as the official leaders of all black people everywhere.
Dr. Martin Luther King
Perhaps the article below, and indirectly the one it discusses will change some of that.
Article begins:
On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stood at the Lincoln Memorial and admonished America to return to its First Principles. In his I Have a Dream Speech, Dr King looked forward to the day that “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.’” He dreamt of the day when all “would be guaranteed the ‘unalienable Rights’ of ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.’”
Dr. King did not talk about remaking America. His dream was one “deeply rooted in the American dream,” as he said, and one that hearkened back to America’s founding principles. It was not a rejection of our past, but a vision of hope based on the principles of our past.
Based on a series of arbitrary and unjust policies, African Americans were denied basic protections of the rule of law. Segregation prevented access to public accommodations, and many were reduced to poverty as a result of these injustices. Dr. King did not ask African-Americans to be satisfied with their condition, nor did he denounce America as an unjust nation. Instead, Dr. King assured his listeners that their circumstances were contrary to America’s creed. He used the central principle of the Declaration – natural human equality – as a rallying cry for civil rights.
The principle of human equality is the foundation of the Declaration’s statement of natural rights. We are all equal because we all participate in a common human nature. Since we are all equal, we are all entitled to the basic rights that are derived from human nature. From these First Principles, Dr. King understood that all Americans—regardless of skin color—should have access to the rule of law, public accommodations, and thereby have the ability to pursue economic opportunities and, ultimately, happiness.
But Dr. King did not think that the principle of equality meant that everyone should be treated the same. He sought equality of rights and equality before the law, not equality of outcomes or equality as a result. Instead, justice would be when people were judged “by the content of their character” rather than by arbitrary considerations such as skin color. Dr. King did not mean that we should treat people of good character and bad character the same. Actual equality is achieved when arbitrary standards are replaced by meaningful criteria such as talent and virtue. A just country, then, is one in which people are rewarded for acting virtuously and producing success.
The challenge of our time is quite formidable: we face an ever expanding government, exercising a bureaucratic tyranny that suffocates our self-government. Let’s take Dr. King’s teaching to heart: let’s look to our First Principles to guide us through our current political problems and to restore this great country. (From Heritage Foundation)
EDM BEGINS AGAIN:
For years we have watched the political correctness that has caused people in the public venue to refrain from speaking what they discuss in private. That there have been wrongs done to black people in America’s past, but there are too many successes to shed all the bitter tears.
And it is of course, still true that such wrong and racist attitudes exist still. I watched a man who had only moments earlier be nice to me refuse to even speak to a black cashier inside the restaurant he and I were both entering. I admit I was stunned.
So there are wrongs on both sides. I still maintain that in spite of the historic wrong of slavery, black people in America should get down on their knees and praise the Lord for the fact that their roots are in America. If they lived in Africa or other places, their standard of living, their hopes for accomplishment and the future of their children would not even come close to what they can expect in the United States.
I find it interesting that America has a half-black President, a black Supreme Court judge (not the first), and black legislators and business people too numerous to count. These were not done through affirmative action or set asides.
Dr. King was never my favorite person, but it was because of his politics not because he wanted better lives for black people. When I see what is going on in so many places to black children it infuriates me. What chance to they stand until more and more of their role models begin to teach them better ways? I wish that his “color-blind” dream was more of a reality than it is today. That wish is as much for the minds of black people as for white.
When the black preachers in our society stopped preaching the Bible and began to make politics their venue, things took a nose dive for black society. You might not like that fact, but no one can deny it. When people live according to the Bible’s teaching, their lives improve. That is a fact beyond discussion.
People, be they black, white, yellow, red of polka-dot can make it in the United States if they will learn the rules of success and apply them. Laziness, thuggery, excusitis and other whining-builders won’t cut it.
Kudos to all who are willing to learn, discipline themselves, and apply the right rules of success. And to those who are willing to rise above wrongs done them. We all can claim enough of those to soak a box of tissue with tears. So what?! Move on.