On August 28, 1963, (my 4th birthday, by the way) Dr. Martin Luther King made probably his most famous speech in the civil rights movement, his "I have a dream" speech on the Mall in Washington, DC. One of the more poignant and most quoted lines of that speech goes as follows:
"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."
These are important words that we, as Americans, as human beings, should always remember. It does not really matter who spoke them. Dr. Martin Luther King was simply the person God chose to use to announce this simple truth to men of all color, in all lands where there is the heartache for freedom. We all desire true justice, where every person is given the chance to be free of the condemnation and constraints based on frivolous aspects of who we are, such as the color of our skin, the nation we come from, the religious beliefs we hold, or our gender.
I wish that I could say that this past election saw that 45 year old vision finally come true. I am afraid this did not happen. Barak Obama was not elected because he was the best choice for President of the United States. Of the two candidates for this office, America really did not have much of a choice. The choice, in fact, was really which candidate would do the least amount of damage in the next four years. The sad fact is, Barak Obama's character is pretty much unknown to the majority of the population. He was not judged on the basis of his character, BUT precisely on the color of his skin. Black voters voted him in because he was black and white voters voted him because they did not want to be labeled racist for not voting for a black man.
Now, if a white person votes for a white candidate over an equally or more qualified black candidate only because of the color of his skin, this is a vote based on race. The Left would label this racist and the voter would be labeled racist. Is there any difference if a black voter votes for a black candidate over an equally or more qualified white candidate because of the color of his skin? We are talking Goose and Gander here. You know, what's good for the goose...
Now, I personally have no animosity towards President-Elect Obama. Nor do I have any great enthusiasm for John McCain. These are actually not my words, but the words of my pastor. The thought is still true. I have not problem with a black President. If J.C. Watts, congressman from Oklahoma, was running for president, he would have had my full endorsement and my vote. If Clarence Thomas ran for President (I do not know why he would even consider it over the amount of influence he has on the Supreme Court), I would have voted for him. Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, or Alan Keyes, all distinguished black men, would have received my vote.
I have listened to these black men speak and their character is easily on display for all to see. However, President-Elect Obama has spent the past two years running for president and has successfully hidden, with the help of the main stream media outlets, his true character from everybody. However, January 20th, that all ends. In the Senate, Barak Obama can only do so much damage. But in the White House, the amount of damage he can do will take decades to undo, if it is able to be undone at all. I fully believe that in the next four years, we are going to find out things about Barak H. Obama that will make William Jefferson Clinton look like a boyscout. And our economy will end up looking worse than Jimmy Carter's when he was left office in 1981, replaced by Ronald Wilson Reagan.
But, after all, he made history. He is the first black man elected president of the United States. I think that Dr. King would say now, "I still have a dream."
"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."
These are important words that we, as Americans, as human beings, should always remember. It does not really matter who spoke them. Dr. Martin Luther King was simply the person God chose to use to announce this simple truth to men of all color, in all lands where there is the heartache for freedom. We all desire true justice, where every person is given the chance to be free of the condemnation and constraints based on frivolous aspects of who we are, such as the color of our skin, the nation we come from, the religious beliefs we hold, or our gender.
I wish that I could say that this past election saw that 45 year old vision finally come true. I am afraid this did not happen. Barak Obama was not elected because he was the best choice for President of the United States. Of the two candidates for this office, America really did not have much of a choice. The choice, in fact, was really which candidate would do the least amount of damage in the next four years. The sad fact is, Barak Obama's character is pretty much unknown to the majority of the population. He was not judged on the basis of his character, BUT precisely on the color of his skin. Black voters voted him in because he was black and white voters voted him because they did not want to be labeled racist for not voting for a black man.
Now, if a white person votes for a white candidate over an equally or more qualified black candidate only because of the color of his skin, this is a vote based on race. The Left would label this racist and the voter would be labeled racist. Is there any difference if a black voter votes for a black candidate over an equally or more qualified white candidate because of the color of his skin? We are talking Goose and Gander here. You know, what's good for the goose...
Now, I personally have no animosity towards President-Elect Obama. Nor do I have any great enthusiasm for John McCain. These are actually not my words, but the words of my pastor. The thought is still true. I have not problem with a black President. If J.C. Watts, congressman from Oklahoma, was running for president, he would have had my full endorsement and my vote. If Clarence Thomas ran for President (I do not know why he would even consider it over the amount of influence he has on the Supreme Court), I would have voted for him. Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, or Alan Keyes, all distinguished black men, would have received my vote.
I have listened to these black men speak and their character is easily on display for all to see. However, President-Elect Obama has spent the past two years running for president and has successfully hidden, with the help of the main stream media outlets, his true character from everybody. However, January 20th, that all ends. In the Senate, Barak Obama can only do so much damage. But in the White House, the amount of damage he can do will take decades to undo, if it is able to be undone at all. I fully believe that in the next four years, we are going to find out things about Barak H. Obama that will make William Jefferson Clinton look like a boyscout. And our economy will end up looking worse than Jimmy Carter's when he was left office in 1981, replaced by Ronald Wilson Reagan.
But, after all, he made history. He is the first black man elected president of the United States. I think that Dr. King would say now, "I still have a dream."
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