Posted by
Jim Hunt on Monday, January 19, 2009 9:00:00 AM
“I have a dream…” this may be one of the most famous speeches in history, and one of the most important. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. had a dream that one day all men (which includes all women) would be “judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
Tomorrow, for the first time in our history, a President will take office who is not a white male. It has taken nearly 233 years since the phrase “all men are created equal” was penned. But we now have hopefully gotten past the belief that a person’s skin color is somehow relevant to his or her character, capabilities, or intelligence.
But have we really? Has the same set of criteria been used to judge Barack Obama as George W. Bush or any other previous president? If not, why?? President-elect Obama’s inauguration is shaping up more like a coronation. The media frenzy that has surrounded him for nearly a year of unquestioning adulation continues. Controversies that have destroyed previous president’s nominees are being ignored, as are many of Obama’s own questionable acts.
What would Dr. King think of Obama’s relationship with racists like Rev. Wright and Louis Farrakhan? What would he think of Obama’s relationship with un-repentant terrorist William Ayers or crime mogul Tony Rezko?
I think Dr. King would believe that we still have a long way to go. We have made tremendous progress in the last 40 years; but until we can truly reach the color-blind standard of freedom that Dr. King dreamt of we will continue to suffer the consequences. My great fear is that the changes the President-elect Obama appears to want will have the direct opposite effect of making life far worse for the poor and make it even harder for them to escape, or even to desire to escape the most addictive and destructive drug of all: dependence on government rather than self-reliance.
The mission is not to get a black man elected president, although that is a huge victory. Just as the defeat of Saddam Hussein did not equal "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq, the election of Barack Obama does not equal the end of the war for liberty for all.
God Bless America