UNITED STATES—Monday, January 19, was a federal holiday, it was the celebration of the life of one of the most important historical figures in this country: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. For most people it was just another day off. No school, no work for federal offices, state offices, banks or most government entities. However, lots of companies don’t acknowledge the federal holiday. That is not the point of this column, the focal point is the knowledge of King’s iconic, ‘I Have a Dream Speech’ which transpired in August 1963.
The question that always comes to mind for me, is rather King’s vision of his children being judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. Is that something that will ever be possible in America, in the world? I honestly ask myself that question time and time again, and I hate to say it, but I don’t think King’s vision is ever going to transpire. Why? We are a culture that judges people on what we see versus who they are.
We don’t aim to get to know people, we ‘see’ what we want to see and that is a direct result of society being very judgmental. We place people on pedestals based on wealth and status. We don’t really care about the person themselves, the amount of money in their bank account seems to be a stronger focal point, ‘how they look’ which unfortunately can create all sorts of biases, which lead to stereotypes, which can ultimately causes prejudices and so much more. It is a domino effect and it is a bad one at that.
Dr. King’s focus on nonviolence, I think is perhaps the thing that I find so fascinating about him. His ability to not react towards hate and violence with more hate and violence. I know in my body I would not be able to do so, but I constantly ask myself why not? I guess I’ve always been taught that if something physically attacks you, you defend yourself. However, at the same time, I’m not a person that is just going to turn the other cheek when hateful, despicable and just ugly rhetoric is being thrown my way.
For those who think racism, no longer exists, just go to social media, particularly Facebook and Twitter and you will see hate that is just stomach-churning. It makes you wonder if those who spew the hate even know who Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is and what he stood for. More importantly, how critical he was to the Civil Rights Movement and earning protections and rights for people of color that didn’t exist.
The sad reality is that was nearly 60 years ago, and while some things have changed, it feels in an odd way we are reverting back to bad, old habits. Will it change? Will we ever cross that threshold and reach that moment that Dr. King died for so many of us to have? We are in 2026, King’s speech was in 1963, that is more than 63 years ago. What can we do as a society to change our perception of people? How we behave? How we act and so much more? I think we have to have more difficult conversations about things that make us uncomfortable.
Americans we should be doing better; we should aim to actually make the world a better place, and we’re not there, we have a lot of work still to do to make Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream a reality, if it ever becomes a possibility.
