by Theodore Douglas

Created on: August 10, 2009   Last Updated: August 12, 2009

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's speech, given as Lincoln's massive statue sat silently in the shadows of the March on Washington on August 20, 1963, has been largely ignored by history. We remember his famous line that one day he hoped his "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" but we forget he also had a dream that America would "live out the true meaning of its creed," namely that all men were created equal, and that across the South, white and black could "join hands...as sisters and brothers" and justice be meted out-fairly-to all Americans. Unfortunately, we continually refer to King's speech as a dream, and few expect dreams to be fulfilled.

King spoke on that August day of a future where all people would be treated equally no matter their faith or skin color. One need only turn on the news to see how woefully short America falls short in that regard. A person's sexual orientation and attractiveness are just two examples of how differently people are treated based on what most would consider quirks of genetics. This is also the obvious absence of women in King's vision, though to fixate on that ignores the cultural context of 1963, where few would not group women and men under the same umbrella.

Another of King's dreams, that the South would become not simply racially-tolerant but color-blind, is easily proven a failure by looking at news stories across the South (let alone the North). While King's focus was the plight of African-Americans, it is just as common now to hear about racial strife involving Hispanics and Asian-Americans (just to name two racial groups growing in influence in the south) to see that the South, as well as America as a whole, has a long ways to go to see King's dream fulfilled. Lynchings and voter intimidation are far less common, but stereotyped depictions of individuals based on their race (or gender) seem to be growing.

What then of the dream we remember, that King's children (meaning the younger generation of black Americans) would be judged solely by their character? When Barack Obama was elected President in 2008, many hailed it as proof race no longer mattered. Of course, many could say the economy simply mattered more-it is folly to assume why one votes one way or another without evidence. Far more troubling was that, in the same breath this odd vision of racial utopianism was being reported, Obama

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