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I was an infant, just seven months old on August 28, 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his now famous "I Have a Dream" speech during the historic March on Washington. Having been born at the dawn of the Civil Rights Movement and possessing windows to both the past and the future through the recollections of my World War II generation parents and the perspectives of my Millennium generation son, I have definitely noticed changes throughout my own lifetime that have represented advancements toward "The Dream."

But, has "The Dream" now been fully realized? With the election of Barack Obama to the Presidency in 2008 I know that there are many people who were ready to answer that question with an emphatic "Yes!" But is it really that simple? While I would admit that society has come a long way in the area of racial equality since 1963, sadly I believe that there are still a myriad of lingering social issues that will not allow us to declare inequality officially dead.

So, I decided that it might be interesting to look at the actual text of Dr. King's speech and really analyze the degree to which his vision has been achieved. He was such a dynamic speaker; I find it difficult not to get caught up in the emotion of his words no matter how many times I watch the speech. I suspect the same is true for many Americans, of all races and ethnic backgrounds. But, I realized that I have never actually studied, not in school nor on my own, the content of the address in much depth. Once I did and began to dissect each section and compare it to the equality issues that continue to surface in news stories across the United States even today I was somewhat sobered by the results.

King began the speech by invoking the legacy of Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation which had been signed roughly 100 years earlier. He then went on to describe the problems that continued to plague America's citizens of color despite the hope and promise that emancipation had offered to Negro slaves at the time.

Dr. King then enumerated the pressing civil rights issues of the day: segregation, discrimination, poverty, police brutality, unequal access to public accommodations and discriminatory practices surrounding voting rights.

He concluded by offering a glimpse of a better future for all citizens; a place where citizens of all races could "sit down together at the table of brotherhood" and one in which his own children could be "judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

Segregation

I will attest that I have never been confronted by "White Only" signs in restaurants, hotels, movie theaters, public restrooms or on water fountains even when traveling with my family through the South as a child in the 1970s. I attended public schools that were fully integrated with about 7% of my high school graduating class being African-American. My current workplace is fully integrated and has steadily become more diverse over the years. When I began back in 1985 I was one of only four African-American employees in a department of about 150 people. Today I work on project teams which include not only significant numbers of African-American and Caucasian members but also Hispanics, Native Americans and contract associates hailing from places like Korea, China and India as well.

But even though legally enforced segregation is a thing of the past examples of segregation still exist all around us. One of the most disturbing examples was outlined in the documentary Prom Night in Mississippi. It tells the story of Charleston, Mississippi which is the home of award-winning actor, Morgan Freeman. Despite the Brown vs. the Board of Education decision in 1954 mandating desegregation of schools, Charleston did not integrate its high school until 1970. And for the next 37 years the town had two senior proms: one for white students and a separate one for blacks. Freeman first offered to pay for an integrated prom in 1997; the offer was rejected. He tried again a decade later and the film documents the Class of 2008's preparations for Charleston's first integrated prom. Although the film clearly showed that the integrated prom was successful and well attended, amazingly a group of white parents still organized a private "Whites only" prom for their children.

Morgan Freeman reportedly spent $17,000 on the prom and was quoted as saying it was "money well spent." However, the fact that a handful of white parents still felt compelled to organize a separate "Whites only" function would seem to indicate that in Mississippi at least, the dream to end segregation has not yet been fully realized.

Discrimination

As a small child I can recall some instances of discrimination, usually involving poor service in stores or restaurants and about fifteen years ago I encountered a hair salon that advertised "Walk-ins Welcome" but then refused to cut my hair once the stylist realized that I was an African-American. But I can attest to the fact that with the passage of time such instances of blatant discrimination have become few and far between.

However, recent news stories surrounding the resignation of a Louisiana justice of the peace after he refused to marry an interracial couple illustrates, once again that Dr. King's dream to end discrimination is not yet fully realized. Perhaps a more frightening thought, especially to people of color is the idea that if there are still pockets of our nation where such blatant discrimination is practiced could there also be subtle and covert discrimination occurring more often than anyone truly suspects?

Poverty

Perhaps most discouraging is not only our failure to eliminate poverty in the United States over the last forty years but also the fact that poverty levels for people of color are actually rising and the income disparity between whites and minorities is growing wider.

A review of the United States Census Bureau's Historical Poverty Tables paints a fairly dismal picture. While the percentage of people of all races living in poverty decreased from 22.4% in 1959 to 12.3% in 2006 other groups of Americans did not fare nearly as well. Poverty levels for African-Americans did decline from a staggering 55% living below the poverty line in 1959 to 24.3% in 2006. While this appears to represent significant improvement there are two factors that still cause these numbers to be disturbing. First, the percentage of African-Americans living below the poverty level remains higher than the total poverty level percentages in 1959 and are nearly double the poverty levels for all Americans in 2006. But perhaps even worse is the fact that after reaching an all-time low of 22.5% of African-Americans living in poverty at the end of 2000, the percentages have been increasing every year since. So, not only are African-Americans not catching up in the struggle against poverty, it appears that we are losing ground.

The story for Hispanic-Americans is similar. When the Census Bureau first began tracking statistics for Hispanic-Americans in 1972 it reported that 22.8% lived below the poverty line. In 2006 that percentage had only improved to 20.6%.

Single mothers of all races however, showed the worst results of all. 49.4% lived below the poverty line in 1959 compared with a shockingly high 30.5% in 2006. Like African-Americans, single moms appear to be losing ground. After achieving a historical low of 28.5% in 2000, percentages of single mothers living in poverty increased every year from 2001 through 2005. This portion of the dream seems more like a nightmare.

Police Brutality

Although we no longer see the horrendous images of white police officers unleashing dogs and fire hoses on Civil Rights protestors or of angry white mobs beating and harassing young, black college students during lunch counter sit-ins unfortunately even this portion of Dr. King's vision does not appear to have been fully realized.

In 1991 America watched horrific video of white police officers beating motorist Rodney King and just over a year later were stunned again to witness white truck driver Reginald Denny being savagely beaten after the LAPD officers in the Rodney King case were acquitted.

In 1999, a West-African immigrant named Amadou Diallo was shot 19 times by white police officers who believed he was "acting suspiciously." In actuality, the unarmed Diallo had simply stepped out onto his porch for some fresh air and was reaching for his wallet when the officers shot him.

Most recently has been the much debated "beer summit" that President Obama arranged in an attempt to ease tensions after an unpleasant encounter between Cambridge, Massachusetts police officer James Crowley and black Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Add to that the fact that racial profiling is legal and completely unrestricted in twenty-seven states even though former President George W. Bush declared racial profiling "wrong" and vowed to "put an end to it" back in 2001 and it would seem Dr. King's aspirations in this area are below goal as well.

Freedom for All

While each of these individual areas in which the dream of equality has not been realized is troubling, perhaps most tragic is the manner in which the ongoing climate of inequality and mistrust is poisoning our relationships with one another and preventing all Americans, both white and non-white from "sitting down together" at that "table of brotherhood" that Martin Luther King, Jr. so eloquently described.

I have often heard white friends and co-workers express frustration when discussing racial issues. "Why can't we just leave all of that in the past and just move on already?" I think what these individuals fail to see however, is that neglecting to heal the legacy of hurt that has existed between whites and non-whites since America's very inception is just as detrimental to them as it is to us; and not merely in terms of so-called "reverse discrimination."

Take racial profiling, for example. According to a study by Amnesty International there have been two very high profile cases in which inaccurate racial profiling practices put the entire public at risk. The first was the case of the Oklahoma City bombing. Timothy McVeigh, who was eventually executed for the crime was initially able to flee the scene because law enforcement was focused on apprehending the "Arab terrorists" whom they felt were responsible.

The second case involved the Washington D.C. snipers, John Allen Muhammed and John Lee Malvo. These suspects, both black eluded capture for months because investigators' profiles indicated that the perpetrator was most likely a white male. While profiles may have appropriate uses in the investigation of some crimes if we allow stereotypical beliefs about any group, white or non-white to become the prevailing factor in our decision making process we may ultimately be placing everyone's safety at risk.

Finally, there have been a number of academic studies which indicate that racial diversity results in improved outcomes in everything from jury deliberations to greater understanding and communication among college students.

Better communication, higher levels of empathy and compassion for others, broader educational opportunities and higher quality group decisions; these appear to be the measures by which we can ultimately determine whether Dr. King's dreams have been realized. Despite the challenges it would seem that the benefits from our continued pursuit of his vision far outweigh the costs.

Learn more about this author, Robin Landry.
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