The King Holiday and the State of the Union: Dreams and Goals Fulfilled

The month of January is always interesting to me. It is the month when the nation celebrates the birthday of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. King became an icon in the 50's and 60's and the symbol of civil rights and human dignity during the most tense periods of the movement. He is remembered most for his impassioned speech at the March on Washington in 1963. At that March King made known his "dream" of an American society that would judge men and women on the content of their character rather than on the color of their skin. Every year when King's birthday arrives the question "has the dream been fulfilled" always comes up. This year this question will have new meaning thanks to the presidential victory of Barrack Obama last year. My gut feeling however is that if these same pundits actually understood the question they were asking, they would come to realize that the main goals of the civil rights movement were fulfilled before King was assassinated. They would also realize that King's dream was steeped in a profound sense of having and completing an agenda with lofty but tangible goals. This past year we have seen our President make many goals with regards to our economy and health care. In year two of his presidency the hope is he will be able to start fulfilling these goals in order to bring about the "change" we all can believe in.

Many seem to forget that the civil rights movement was just that, a slow moving, very calculated, precise, organizing movement created by pastors and students, who simply wanted America to live up to its promise of equality and liberty for all. It started in the Deep South with applying economic pressure to the segregated bus system and to segregated lunch counters. Freedom Riders were registering African American voters in the south at a rapid pace. Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP lawyers broke the back of segregation with the landmark case Brown V. The Board of Education in 1954. King became the most well known foot soldier of this movement. By the time 1963 came around the stage was set to have a massive march on Washington to beseech the government to pass a civil rights act barring discrimination throughout the nation. The leaders of the march, A Phillip Randolph, Bayard Rustin, Whitney Young, Martin Luther King Jr. and John Lewis envisioned a day where thousands would march on Washington peacefully, with a set of demands to expand the concept of civil rights across the country. The leaders and members of this movement were determined to secure four demands from the US government. These demands included; passage of meaningful civil rights legislation, a voting rights bill, the ending of segregation in all schools and a major public works program to provide jobs and job training. Now I can understand that "I have a dream" probably sounds a bit more eloquent than "I have four demands" but make no mistake, there was a set agenda, goals and time tables in order to secure and push forth a more perfect union, and many firmly believe that the march was the catalyst for the passage of both the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The idea of demands and goals sometimes gets lost when we talk about King and his most famous speech. The other aspect of this march that gets lost is how diverse the participants were. Whites and people of the Jewish faith had been working with civil rights organizations since their inception. The members of the Japanese American Citizens League were also co-participants in the march. They not only saw the civil rights movement as a defining moment in America but they also used it as a catalyst to remind the government of their internment during World War II. Leaders and members of MAPA (Mexican American Political Association) were also part of the march that day. Mexican Americans had actually set the stage for Brown V. The Board of Education seven years earlier with Mendez V. Westminster. That court case desegregated schools in Orange County for Mexican Americans. These were not dreamers but realists, understanding that the vision of a truly democratic and united states was a vision shared by all regardless of color or gender. These are the forgotten realities that need to be remembered on King's birthday. By the time of his death King had formed a coalition with Chicanos, Puerto Ricans, and Poor Whites and Native Americans in order to bring about a redistribution of wealth in this country and to the chagrin of President Johnson, he had become a fierce critic of the war in Vietnam. Again, King's ideals and hopes may have seemed "dream" like but his goals were steeped in a real tangible need to push America forward. His use of rhetoric was firmly rooted in achievable objectives.

As much as I enjoy hearing and dissecting King's speech, I am anxiously awaiting another speech this January. This January will mark the first State of the Union Address by President Obama. Just like the men and women in 1963 who wanted to see the March on Washington set out a pathway for achievable goals and objectives, the American people of 2010 will be anxious to hear our President map out a clear pathway to his goals and objectives. We know our President is an eloquent and articulate speaker but at this point we also know the state of our union with regards to our economic crisis, the job situation and the raging healthcare debate. It's time for President Obama, like Dr. King to set a clear agenda for how these issues are going to be dealt with and when they will get done. In short, Americans heard much about hope and change last year. Now they truly want to see it. Civil Rights workers and supporters in the south often sang the spiritual "We Shall Overcome Someday" and their hard work and accountability made sure that "someday" was in the here and now. My hope is that our President will be able to use the inspiration and facts of the past, to bring about the swift and serious change that needs to happen in the present.