Happy MLK Jr. Day
"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."
That's it. That's what we should all want. Remember that today. And always.
posted by Eli7 @ 12:36 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Based on that statement, it seems that Dr. King was against affirmative action. Tell that to PrezBo.
He was probably for it, actually:
Stance on Affirmative Action
Martin Luther King Jr. may have supported affirmative action. Among his comments:
"Whenever this issue [compensatory treatment] is raised, some of our friends recoil in horror. The Negro should be granted equality, they agree, but should ask for nothing more. On the surface, this appears reasonable, but is not realistic. For it is obvious that if a man enters the starting line of a race three hundred years after another man, the second would have to perform some incredible feat in order to catch up."
"A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for him, to equip him to compete on a just and equal basis."
"... for 15 centuries the Negro was enslaved and robbed of any wages — potential accrued wealth which would have been the legacy of his descendants. All of America's wealth today could not adequately compensate its Negroes for his centuries of exploitation and humiliation. It is an economic fact that a program such as I propose would certainly cost far less than any computation of two centuries of unpaid wages plus accumulated interest. In any case, I do not intend that this program of economic aid should apply only to the Negro: it should benefit the disadvantaged of all races."
As one site puts it: "King actually suggested it might be necessary to have, something akin to 'discrimination in reverse' as a form of national 'atonement' for the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow segregation." [2][3][4]
Scholars argue whether he advocated affirmative action for the poor, blacks, or both. King himself admitted that the vast majority of the poor were black anyway, implying that he could put his proposed programs in terms of class and not race, while still achieving the end of compensatory treatment, albeit via a more agreeable position. While it may seem that he alternates between advocating socioeconomic and racial affirmative action, the latter predominated. In a Playboy interview he proposes a massive public works project of Depression-Era proportions, the likely grounds for Reagan calling King a near communist. [5][6]
(wikipedia.)
Can we replace "color of their skin" with "color of their tablecloths"?
Sorry, I just couldn't help it.
Regardless of if MLK was for affirmative action or not, realize it is unconstitutional because it discriminates on the basis of race. BTW, which race(s)? When was the last time you saw "Are you Jewish? We want to go out of our way for you" on one of those lists, for instance? This is social justice?
Is this an appropriate remedy to the injustices of African-Americans or are there better options?
"..that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands..."
-from a personal hero, MLK
I dont know... every once in a while i wonder what it would be like if we had slaves today... Ok I wonder... am I going to have a death threat now?
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