Dr. King dreamed of a world where children of all races could play together beyond the color of their skin tone. He dreamed of a world where people could coexist beyond race, class, creed or religion. It was a beautiful dream. But realistically, how far have we come today to fulfill his vision? Are we still moving in that direction, did we accomplish the dream or have we somehow gotten lost our path to the dream?
Stacey Dash who is a Fox news contributor recently made some very controversial remarks with regard to race and the black community. When asked about her thoughts on the Oscar's being boycotted over black actors being snubbed, Stacy's response was that it was ludicrous. Below is an excerpt of her comments.
“We have to make up our minds,” she said. “Either we want to have segregation or integration. And if we don’t want segregation, then we need to get rid of channels like BET and the BET Awards and the (NAACP) Image Awards where you’re only awarded if you’re black.
Stacey is very much entitled to her own opinion no matter what anyone thinks and I somewhat understand the point she was trying to make but feel that the way it was worded did not translate over well to our community. Here is my take on the issue.
We live in a world where all men, women and children are free and all things should be equal. Notice that I say should be. In a perfect world, all races of people have equal rights opportunities and there is no race superior over another. But, we do not live in a perfect world. The reality of the world we actually live in is a melting pot of cultural differences and ethnicities. In order for our community to even have had a chance of equal rights we needed an advocate to fight for our very rights and our lives because it was never going to be rightfully given to us. Dr. King selflessly became our advocate and died for our rights and our freedom. The Freedom Riders fought peacefully for our rights just so that we could sit at the same counter in a restaurant with a white person. Just so that we could use the same restroom as a white person. Just so that we could drink from the same water fountain as a white person. It's seems ridiculous that we had to fight for these very simple accommodations but just because we were black and just because of the color of our skin we were considered "less than." Understand that our community had to fight just so that we could be considered equal to white people period. This was and is the world and the reality that we live in. And although it is not the 1960's we still have to fight to have a seat at the table with whatever we do because we are still breaking down barriers in the year 2016. Because believe it or not there are still people in the world that feel that black people are "less than." I wish that I could say that racism is dead, but it is very much alive today. We have to keep standing up for ourselves and saying that we are not "less than." We are equals to everyone. We are all made in the image of God and we all are beautiful.
We still have to stand up and fight whether it's being considered for a movie role or working in the corporate world. Yes, we've come along ways since the 1960's but if you ask me have we fulfilled Dr. King's Dream, I would have to say no. It is still very much a work in progress and that is why we still need Black History Month and the NAACP Image awards and television programs that recognize black people for their accomplishments because there are still many people in the world that do not feel black people are equal to other races. When the racist attitudes change in our world, then all races can truly be appreciated for their accomplishments and contributions and then and only then can we get rid of BET, Black history month, and the NAACP Image awards.
I once had a supervisor tell me that he thought that Martin Luther King day should not even be a national holiday. His comment was very hurtful to me especially coming from an older white man, and I believe he meant for his comment to hurt me. I went home and cried that evening after hearing those words. But the next day, I got out of bed, held my head high and walked back into work with the utmost dignity and the utmost respect because you see, I know my worth, I know my value and I know who I am as a black woman.
Until Then,
The Quiet Thinker