Have you read the Washington Post interview about Obama and changing race relations in the Washington Post?
What I hope to model is a way of interacting with people who aren't like you and don't agree with you that changes the temper of our politics," "And then part of that changes how we think about moving forward on race relations. Race relations becomes a subset of a larger problem in our society, which is we have a diverse, complicated society where people have a lot of different viewpoints,"
Thanks for this Siditty! I love this speech! When I was living in the US I would listen to it every MLK Day. My favorite lines are: "I have a dream that my 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. I have a dream today!" and "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last!" Even now it brings a lump to my cynical throat.
Random side note: The Stone Mountain, GA (the actual mountain, not the city) that Dr. King mentions in his speech used to be a hotbed of KKK activity...no black folks would go there, in large part because the KKK used to hold clan rallies there. I remember being nearly a teenager before my parents felt it was safe enough to take the family there for a hike. Goes to show just how much things have changed...
I don't think we can put Obama on the same level as King...yet. Obama hasnt done anything for this country but get elected. Save the praise for when the economy is fixed and change has been made.
FungkeBlakChik: I am a strong believe certain people are destined for greatness at the time of birth. -------------- It seems like that doesn't it??? All the great people of the world always seem to have this marvalous background story !! Still want to change the world tho...
I am a strong believe certain people are destined for greatness at the time of birth.
Maybe so, but I think destiny can be molded along the way as well :)
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No C1, I haven't. At least I didn't until you pointed it out. Great article!!! I will link it here for those interested.
I am freaked out by the fact that in the future, kids are going to take the fact that we have a black president as "normal", when I grew up thinking it would never happen in my lifetime.
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Random side note: The Stone Mountain, GA (the actual mountain, not the city) that Dr. King mentions in his speech used to be a hotbed of KKK activity...no black folks would go there, in large part because the KKK used to hold clan rallies there. I remember being nearly a teenager before my parents felt it was safe enough to take the family there for a hike. Goes to show just how much things have changed...
I still have never gone to Vidor, TX, and I lived six miles from there. They say things have changed, but I am still scared.
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I don't think we can put Obama on the same level as King...yet. Obama hasnt done anything for this country but get elected. Save the praise for when the economy is fixed and change has been made.
No one is saying Obama is like King, what we are saying is that Obama is part of King's dream. Had you asked folks even five years ago if we could ever have a black President in America, they would have said, "not in our lifetime". Hell had you asked me during the democratic primaries if Obama had a chance, I would have said I like him and his ideals, but no, there are people in this world who would vote for a dog before they would a black man.
Racism is old, long, and drawn out, and even though people think all the bad stuff happened a really long time ago, there are still plenty of people who remember. Hell I remember some things and I am 32. My parents, my grandparents, and other family members remember segregation. My dad went to an HBCU not because he necessarily wanted to, but that was one of the few options available to him. He felt safe at an HBCU, but not at a newly integrated State School, where people were still violently fighting desegregation. Hell our as of today former president is moving to a neighborhood whose homeowner's association only a few years ago removed from the bylaws that blacks could not live in the neighborhood. He is moving to a sundown town in which only 0.90% black, even in the year 2009. In which only a few years ago, it was the cool thing to do for kids to go around with confederate flags on their trucks.
Obama is part of the dream MLK realized, some white people, some other races of people, and even some black people were able to look aside his race and focus on his policies to put him in office. That wouldn't have happened even five years ago in my mind, much less around the time of MLK's heyday.
Obama was judged by the content of his character, not the color of his skin, and you don't know how amazing that is to me and others. That is MLK's dream, isn't it?
I'm trying not to see Obama as this otherworldly being, but the media is really making him out to be. He is amazing, I agree, but he's not the Savior. Granted, he doesn't have to try too hard to be better than Bush. But it must be tough for Obama to have the entire African-American race to hold him up to be the "Great Brown Hope" or an MLK clone. That is a lot to live up to. Everyone has to do their part to make things better in this country. He can't do it alone. To ABCIL, I used to take for granted that i could go to Stone Mountain whenever I wanted until I heard about the racist history behind that place. How ironic that now when you go to Stone Mountain, you see so many IR couples there with their families and the area is predominately Black or Hispanic now. You are right about how things have changed.
7 comments:
I am a strong believe certain people are destined for greatness at the time of birth.
Have you read the Washington Post interview about Obama and changing race relations in the Washington Post?
What I hope to model is a way of interacting with people who aren't like you and don't agree with you that changes the temper of our politics,"
"And then part of that changes how we think about moving forward on race relations. Race relations becomes a subset of a larger problem in our society, which is we have a diverse, complicated society where people have a lot of different viewpoints,"
Thanks for this Siditty! I love this speech! When I was living in the US I would listen to it every MLK Day. My favorite lines are: "I have a dream that my 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. I have a dream today!" and "Free at last, free at last, thank God Almighty we are free at last!" Even now it brings a lump to my cynical throat.
Random side note: The Stone Mountain, GA (the actual mountain, not the city) that Dr. King mentions in his speech used to be a hotbed of KKK activity...no black folks would go there, in large part because the KKK used to hold clan rallies there. I remember being nearly a teenager before my parents felt it was safe enough to take the family there for a hike. Goes to show just how much things have changed...
I don't think we can put Obama on the same level as King...yet. Obama hasnt done anything for this country but get elected. Save the praise for when the economy is fixed and change has been made.
Do you think MLKjr is smiling from heavan ?
FungkeBlakChik:
I am a strong believe certain people are destined for greatness at the time of birth.
--------------
It seems like that doesn't it??? All the great people of the world always seem to have this marvalous background story !!
Still want to change the world tho...
I am a strong believe certain people are destined for greatness at the time of birth.
Maybe so, but I think destiny can be molded along the way as well :)
------
No C1, I haven't. At least I didn't until you pointed it out. Great article!!! I will link it here for those interested.
I am freaked out by the fact that in the future, kids are going to take the fact that we have a black president as "normal", when I grew up thinking it would never happen in my lifetime.
--------
Random side note: The Stone Mountain, GA (the actual mountain, not the city) that Dr. King mentions in his speech used to be a hotbed of KKK activity...no black folks would go there, in large part because the KKK used to hold clan rallies there. I remember being nearly a teenager before my parents felt it was safe enough to take the family there for a hike. Goes to show just how much things have changed...
I still have never gone to Vidor, TX, and I lived six miles from there. They say things have changed, but I am still scared.
---------
I don't think we can put Obama on the same level as King...yet. Obama hasnt done anything for this country but get elected. Save the praise for when the economy is fixed and change has been made.
No one is saying Obama is like King, what we are saying is that Obama is part of King's dream. Had you asked folks even five years ago if we could ever have a black President in America, they would have said, "not in our lifetime". Hell had you asked me during the democratic primaries if Obama had a chance, I would have said I like him and his ideals, but no, there are people in this world who would vote for a dog before they would a black man.
Racism is old, long, and drawn out, and even though people think all the bad stuff happened a really long time ago, there are still plenty of people who remember. Hell I remember some things and I am 32. My parents, my grandparents, and other family members remember segregation. My dad went to an HBCU not because he necessarily wanted to, but that was one of the few options available to him. He felt safe at an HBCU, but not at a newly integrated State School, where people were still violently fighting desegregation. Hell our as of today former president is moving to a neighborhood whose homeowner's association only a few years ago removed from the bylaws that blacks could not live in the neighborhood. He is moving to a sundown town in which only 0.90% black, even in the year 2009. In which only a few years ago, it was the cool thing to do for kids to go around with confederate flags on their trucks.
Obama is part of the dream MLK realized, some white people, some other races of people, and even some black people were able to look aside his race and focus on his policies to put him in office. That wouldn't have happened even five years ago in my mind, much less around the time of MLK's heyday.
Obama was judged by the content of his character, not the color of his skin, and you don't know how amazing that is to me and others. That is MLK's dream, isn't it?
I'm trying not to see Obama as this otherworldly being, but the media is really making him out to be. He is amazing, I agree, but he's not the Savior. Granted, he doesn't have to try too hard to be better than Bush. But it must be tough for Obama to have the entire African-American race to hold him up to be the "Great Brown Hope" or an MLK clone. That is a lot to live up to. Everyone has to do their part to make things better in this country. He can't do it alone. To ABCIL, I used to take for granted that i could go to Stone Mountain whenever I wanted until I heard about the racist history behind that place. How ironic that now when you go to Stone Mountain, you see so many IR couples there with their families and the area is predominately Black or Hispanic now. You are right about how things have changed.
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