Monday, January 19, 1998

King's vision appeals to our noblest natures

On Aug. 28, 1963, in one of the most moving and important speeches of 20th century America, Martin Luther King Jr. told a crowd at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington that he had a dream.

"I have a dream," he said in part, as a nation watched on television, "that one day 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.'

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.

"I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

"I have a dream that my four 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.

"I have a dream today."

King's dream, his vision, has not been fully realized. But because of this extraordinary leader and those who helped him fight his non-violent fight, America changed dramatically. Discrimination, as it existed before him, was not the same after him. Clues to why King was able to affect the hearts and minds of so many Americans can be seen in the words quoted here.

Unlike some seeking change today, he did not attack America's traditions as hopelessly evil. He appealed, instead, to the country's noblest principles, its heritage of equality, freedom and justice, and showed how the treatment of blacks was in contradiction to those principles. And he spoke not of what divides people, but of what they have in common, their brotherhood. He did not seek special treatment by group, but asked that people be treated in accord with their individual merit.

Today, as we celebrate this man of peace and unashamed faith and moral conviction, we should pledge to keep seeking his dream, but that's not all. We should remind ourselves of what it was in his philosophy that helped forge his success. It is still a philosophy that can help make the dream come true.Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story