On Monday, we celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – remembering the contributions of the civil rights leader. In his most famous speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., King spoke of his dream – a dream of racial equality. He spoke at a time when African Americans suffered indignities such as being refused service in restaurants, being forced to ride in the back of public buses, to drink from black only water fountains, and much more. While our country has made great strides in the areas of race relations and racial equality, few can deny that racism still exist – in some areas of the country more than others.
It’s fitting around this time of year to reflect on MLK’s life and work. One question that we often ask is whether or not his dream has been realized. Have we come far enough? Have the barriers to racial equality been torn down sufficiently enough? If King was alive today (he would be 83-years-old this year), would he be satisfied with the progress that has been made? Has King’s dream been realized?
Is it important that we set aside a day to remember the work of Dr. King? What is the best way to commemorate his life? As students, as a school, should we be doing something to remember King and educate the youth of today about his impact on our nation's history?
What do you think? Avoid simple answers. Give me real thought. Read the comments of those posting before you. Come back after you post, and continue to keep up with additional posts until the deadline. I want a real conversation. Invite your parents to read the blog, and they can even comment. Enjoy!
Note: I'm including King's "I Have a Dream" speech.
The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306
(32-minute film that we watched in class)
The Witness: From the Balcony of Room 306 from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.
Important: Be sure to check back daily as I will be posing new questions and thoughts in the comments section.
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20 comments:
i believe that since MLK's death we have come a long, LONG way. Nowhere are blacks being separated from whites and all blacks have the same freedoms and rights that everyone in America has. but does this mean that everyone believes it should be like this? No. there is always going to racist people. it's impossible to get rid of them because that is how they were brought up. it gets passed down from generation to generation. I believe if King were alive today he would be thoroughly pleased with how blacks are being treated but i know he would still be fighting against many haters. He would be proud for what has been accomplished but he would still be working toward making people not judge people on their skin color. on this website i was looking at (http://orient.bowdoin.edu/orient/article.php?date=2006-02-17§ion=2&id=2) the title was "racism is 'silent but still strong'".i believe that statement is totally correct. Little do we know but most people generally tend to be racist in situations. for example in crime scenes, people usually suspect it was a black person that did something wrong, or a police may charge a black person a greater fine for speeding than they would charge a white person. we all know that racists are out there and i don't understand why we haven't taken a stance against them or helped to prevent it.
although i REALLY enjoy taking the day off of school to remember MLK, i believe we should commemorate him in a different way. who actually does anything to thank or pay tribute to him? i hate to admit it but i know i just think "happy birthday", nothing else. on his birthday we should go to school and only learn about MLK. forget math, science, etc. i think we should learn everything there is to know about him. i find learning about him very interesting as a matter of fact. we hardly do anything in school to thank King so if we don't learn about him while we are young we never will...
I think since MLK's death, we have come a far way. But sometimes I think it's not far enough. Yes, there are still some dumb and stupid people out there that think minorities are under the white majority. But a least it's not as bad as it was back then. I definitely agree with Sophie about the way we should celebrate MLK Day. Instead of missing a perfectly good day of school, we should go to school and maybe have like a MLK festivle or party and learn more about him
I believe that even though the blacks are free and there is no segregation there is still racism all over the U.S. I see it every day at home, on TV, the Internet and etc...
When MLK day came to pass I didn't even know it was MLK day I just knew that we had an extra day of weekend and the only reason I new by the end of the day was because we watched a movie on him in this class. I'm sad to say that if we didn't watch a movie in this class that I still wouldn't know because the teachers in my other classes said nothing of MLK day and just went on with the normal day. I agree with sophie that we should dedicate an entire day at school to MLK and learn of nothing else.
Yes we have come far but not far enough. It hasn't come far enough because as Sophie said it the world still has racism. Also there're other problems the world has to worry about like global warming, 3rd world countries to feed ,but i believe racism should be in the group of discussion because what MLK wanted was EVERY RACE to be free from these barriers. MLK would be happy that the sought out "Promise Land" that he died for was found and we are living in it. We as Americans definatly set aside a day that he would be remembered because not only was he a civil rights activist ,but a brilliant man that affected many lives past and present. We should be educated because he should never be forgotten.
I believe that since Martin Luther King Jr's death we have came a long way, but even though equality is distributed to each individual people (Black's, Whites, Minorities, etc...)there is still a major count of Racism. It's not only in the U.S. but sometimes in other countries. Yes, there are some people who think they are higher than the other people because of there colors, but it isn't suppose to be like that! They should just stop and respect others. He worked hard for this to come and people are stupid enough to intefere and won't make his dream come to be, he struggled and fought for his people... We all still (today) fight for his dream. And the people who oppose should stop! Who knows this might make the economy a better place. Since people will get along. Even though in some movies the place of racism may end up funny it's just not right. And some polices will always thinks that the Black guy would be the first to attempt something bad...
Well I think that going off school and going to school will be great for MLK day, because if you don't go to school on that day you can maybe go to a library and read about him or maybe go to a museum. And going to school is also a good idea because, people would or could learn about him and set aside any other subject for just this one day.
People should just stop this discrimination, it really gets on my nerves... (For todays news :P)
Why would the Government be more interested on SOPA and PIPA than just try stopping racial discrimination? It is really a big question to think about.
*I Have a Dream, that one day we will live with no discrimination!*
** WIKIPEDIA IS BACK!!!!☺☻♥♦♣♠•◘○♂▬
Will, I definitely agree with you when you said how MLK really wanted every race to not be discriminated (not just African Americans).
I believe that having MLK day is a very important day in history because he really tied our nation together as a whole. MLK day should totally be recognized as an official holiday because he ended was the reason segregation ended. Many people were inspired by what he had to say. People preformed sit-ins, protests,etc and that in its entirety is showing that the driving force behind this is something that we as Americans needed to look into deeper. I mainly support the idea of having the day off. I think that because if he was willing to die for what he believed in that we should take a day off to recognize his birthday. Although, some people don't support MLK or his ideas at all so if we do take that day off then other people that don't support MLK or his ideas will have an extra day added to thier weekend -its a win win situation. Even though laws have been put up to prevent segregation there is racism in the world and I also totally agree with Sophie on the 'racism is silent but still strong'. Racism has entered the world and its hard to get out but you always have to be optimistic about every situation and hope that one day trough some laws and rethinking that it will leave
Hi, this is Kathryn from 2nd period, and I agree with what you guys have posted so far. I think that we definitely have a ways to go in stopping racism. Also, I would like to add that MLK probably would make an argument about affirmative action if he were here today. It is nearing the same thing that he tried to end. I'm not saying it's completely bad, but it's not fair to people who aren't of minorities who have to work harder to get into a college. It's reverse discrimination, and that is what so many people, including Martin Luther King Jr., died to prevent. I think that for MLK Day, we should do something relating to it in every class. For example, reading his speeches in Language Arts, having a class discussion in Civics, do a timeline of his life in Math, etc. It would be a lot more beneficial to all of the students than taking a day off of school to sit at home and watch television.
I believe that we have come a long way since MLK started his marches, speeches, etc. Back then, African Americans could not even walk into a store without being thrown out or arrested. I agree with most of the bloggers. We're not done yet, but we're close. I think that if MLK were here, he would not be satisfied. There is still such thing as racial profiles and other stuff. I think some people in this world just don't get it. All MLK is trying to say here is that everybody is equal! Everybody has a personality and uniqueness and that shouldn't be destroyed by the way somebody looks. We are all born a different person and we should be PROUD of ourselves. MLK would agree that the world is not perfect, but people can start by being themselves and kind to others. What I've seen in those horrible videos about racism made me cry. It is not just for a living person to be treated like this. I think the people back then were just trying to make themselves feel better by taking it out on people that were different than them. Still- I mean seriously!- people of the 20th century! Even though MLK has passed, his dream doesn't end there. Us kids of the 21st century need to make things better and fix the mistakes of the past including racism. I think MLK would be really happy to see that happen!
To this day I think progress has been made. But as Sophie said there are still and always will be racist people. Just because of our skin color it doesn’t mean we are an alien! The constitution also said nothing like ‘whites have to treat blacks differently’ it clearly states anyone born or naturalized in the United States is a citizen not an IT. I agree that Dr. King has made an impact on not only the society but the nation. We should always celebrate the day of MLK. He is a man who moved the United States forward. I also agree with Stephen about making a celebration for MLK bigger and better. I think we should go to school on this day because Dr. King wanted blacks to be able to go to school with whites! True we go to school every day with the same people, share the same bathrooms, drink from the same water fountains etc. But we should go to school on this day to celebrate this equalized society.
I love everyone's post so far! We need to advance more in MLK's dream and instead of having PIPA and SOPA we should just work in this!.... And we should go to school in MLK day so we may learn more and help more to this day!
MLK was a great man and so far as i can tell i think our nation has come a long way and improved since then. I also strongly agree, even though this is a very redundant thing to say at this time, that MLK wanted to segregation to be stopped not for just black, but all other races. It would be a very good reason to dedicate a school day learning about what he did. Im kinda hesitant to say this, but at my church last weekend before Martin Luther King day, a 5 year old kindergartner memorized about half of the MLK speech at his age and i barely know one word of it. If kids of his age have the potential to memorize and notice how important this day is why cant we? If all we come to school to do is learn, then how come we cant put just a little heart into the holiday that changed America that no one really cares about anymore. "Let freedom ring", Martin Luther said. Well after all these years its truth, though people still are against it, freedom is ringing all through America today.
I agree with everyone we still have a way to go if we want to end racism. I think to celebrate him and what he did we should do more than have a day off of school. Through his lifetime he has changed history and gave everyone a new perspective on racism. Even though African American's are free there is alot of racism still happening.
I think that the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will always be a symbol of equality. It will always mean something to people who feel that liberty is a right for all races, ethnicities, and genders. His dream is something that touched the lives of people then and people today. He wanted something for people that was not considered right at his time. So him standing up to the power of his superiors and fighting for racial equality inspired and meant a lot to people. Plus the fact that he did it peacefully really says something. So those characteristics and behaviors of him really enlightened people and broden their horizons. His dream did that then and it does that now. It also shows people that you can stand up for what you believe in. It shows that the will of one man can trump the will of a thousand, and that if you have the will of many people who respect and believe in you, you can revolutionize our way of thinking, and open our eyes to new concept. That is another inspiration Dr. King had on people. He never gave up and he gave his life for liberty for all. So his dream today means that change can happen. Strength can prevail and inspire others. Lastly it means that dreams can come true.
I agree with Sophie and everyone when they say that we have a long ways to go from here. That is very true. However, the fact that we have come so far means that we won't stop ending racism. It will just take a while.
I love everybody's comments so far! I think his speech (I have a dream) is still inspirational to most people. He wanted to end racism and that is what he did. His dream still lives today. He wanted to set ending racism is people's minds. His dream still lives today and helps people live through the world day by day. Racism is a horrible thing and no one should have to go through it. And he wanted everyone to be equals in this world. And not for it to be segregated. And look at today...some of it may still be going on. But everybody is a equal. Most get along. And everybody can go to the same place without drama..all thanks to MLK. His I have a dream speech changed peoples lives and I'm so grateful for that.
I agree with everyone's post so far... And chika I really like your point on how "freedom is ringing all through America today".
I believe that racisim has come a long way. I think MLK would be satisfied with where we are today even thogh there are still some racist people in the world. Everyone has the same amount of rights, equality, and we all have freedom. Even though I enjoy having the day off of school, a day to go and learn about MLK would be great way to learn about him and his accomplishments.
I agree with Natalie and Sophie. MLK day should be celibrated more around the US and not just be a day that kids and adults are out of work and school. We should go to school and just learn about MLK and not just have the day to sit at home and wonder what is this day really about instead of just the "I Have A Dream" Speech. The US needs to realize that there is still racist people and that there will still be segragation in the US. I agree with Sophie when she says "Little do we know but most people generally tend to be racist in situations. for example in crime scenes, people usually suspect it was a black person that did something wrong, or a police may charge a black person a greater fine for speeding than they would charge a white person." That explains a lot in how racism is still going on in the US. MLK day is a day to remember and go to school to learn more about the historic day in history.
I believe that the racial barrier has been broken down some, but not completely. Though I do think Martin Luther King would be pleased of how America has come a long way to try to end racism.
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