"And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream 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 the
table of brotherhood."
-- MLK
Dr. King's dream was nice and specific, sorta. I, for one, lived in the red hills of Georgia. In Cobb County in fact. I don't make much of the fact very often, but I was compelled when I lived there to visit the most notoriously racist county there, Forsyth County. When I got there, they tried to sell me a house. Really. I don't know where the 'table of brotherhood' might be, but I was certainly welcome into the neighborhood, and it was way out in the sticks.
What if Dr. King's dream actually did come true? How would it happen? Who would acknowledge it? What if it had actually already happened? That is my question for today. What if there were places in America where King's dream is reality? What further, if there was a political effort to conceal this fact? What would America look like? I think it would look exactly like it does today, because in fact we do, in many various places, sit at the table of brotherhood. The most overused quote going around is, "The future is already here, it's just unevenly distributed." I think that's a fair characterization of King's dream. It ain't real in Jena, but Jena ain't America.
But dig that phrase - deeply rooted in the American dream. That's deep. Who is being sold the value of the American dream today? Politically, does that American dream make sense for everyone? Hmmm.
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