King’s dream is closer than ever

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When Martin Luther King Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on

Aug. 28, 1963, he shared a vision of hope for America.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they are not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character,” King said in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech.

For many across the country – citizens of all shapes, sizes and colors – that vision came closer than ever to reality when America chose Barack Obama as its first multi-racial, black president.

“In many ways, Obama is a realization of (King’s) dream,” said T.C. Coley, executive director of the Tuskegee Human and Civil Rights Multicultural Center in Alabama.

While King targeted the challenges of a specific segment of society with his movement, Coley said Obama’s election represents the support of people from many different ethnic groups.

“He’s the president of the whole United States,” Coley said. “Not just this group or that group,”

The election is the next step in the Civil Rights Movement according to Idella White, president of the Bay City branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

“Dr. King brought us to a point in the history of America where African Americans could look up,” she said. “He opened the window for a new kind of life – opportunities started to come up.”

“Obama being elected in November hopefully will make it possible for all human beings to look upward, not downward,” White said. “Now we can sort of lift our shoulders and say, ‘We are human, we are educated, we are intelligent, we can do the things other people once thought we couldn’t do.’”

The presidential inauguration next week is slated for the day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, something White said “speaks mountains.” She said the event will be the materialization of King’s dreams.

“The two of them will always walk side by side,” White said. “We cannot think of the success and progress Obama has made without thinking of the path King walked.”

Although Obama will be the first minority president, those involved with multicultural relations do not see the upcoming presidential inauguration as a complete solution to the country’s racial equality issues. Both Coley and White said the upcoming election is by no means a sign that racism is absent from the country’s big picture.

“As long as there are human beings, there will be (racism),” White said.

Blossom Hill, diversity coordinator for Isabella County, acknowledged the risk Obama took in running for the highest political position because of racial tensions that still exist.

Hill said Obama will not eliminate the problems completely, but rather will put down stepping stones in the right direction using his unique perspective.

“There’s a time in everyone’s life when we are discriminated against, but he’s an African American, he’s lived it,” she said. “It’s one thing to see it, but it’s another thing to experience it.”

After Obama won the election, governmental leaders from all over the world called to offer him a congratulatory word.

This fact, Hill said, shows that Obama accomplished something of a legacy just through his campaign. It shows promise for the United States’ ability to mend its broken ties, she said.

“It’s a matter of finding common ground with people of all ethnicities, as race can be a barrier,” Hill said.

White praised Obama’s confidence to march to the beat of his own drum. Coley said his challenge now is to focus on doing the best job possible.

“He’s not going to carry on King’s legacy, but start a legacy of his own,” White said.

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