Unrealized Dreams ...

I have recently read a wonderful book by Shelby Steele about the current state of race relations in America …

Mr. Steele’s book has made me think a lot about where we are as a country, how far we have come, and how far we still must go to truly be free! Nearly forty years Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech that has and will resound for generations. The challenge, in my view, is that we have yet to realize his dream …

Some time ago, I wrote an essay on this topic. If you will, I would like to share the closing paragraph with you …

Dr. King lived, and ultimately gave, his life in the pursuit of a dream. It is captivating, that at such a young age, Dr. King was able to convey with such enormous conviction his vision of freedom, a vision that not only included black men, but true equality for every individual without regard to race or gender. His passion has undoubtedly brought equality closer to reality. As we grow closer to achieving Dr. King’s dream of freedom, we move further away from the horrors of our past. While this growth provides hope of a future filled with promise, we are not certain that America will ever be devoid of racism. It may always remain a struggle; however, as long as we struggle, we are less likely to repeat the atrocities of our past, a past that no rational American would ever want to relive. Therefore, struggle we will, because not every man is equal here in America. A quick walk through history will prove to us that we are closer now than ever before, and while we are striving, we have not yet achieved the dream of true equality. Dr. King’s dream was not one that would bring us close to equality, but rather one that would give every man true equal rights. Various Civil Rights acts and referendums such as affirmative action may have brought an end to segregation and created equal opportunity employment; still it has not shielded the black man from all racism. Prayerfully we have reached an end of overt racism, but what about the subtle forms? What about when a black man enters a room full of white people and everyone stares; or, when the women clinches her purse a little tighter when in the presence of African-Americans? We are not free, nor have we achieved the dream. We will be free not when we achieve equal rights for every race; but rather, when we cease to recognize race entirely!

Retroactive Abortion ...

A short time ago, I was involved in what I assume has to be described as a debate with one of my college professors. Normally, I would not engage in such conversation; however, I could not believe some of the things that were being said, and it was about a topic that I am rather passionate about ... Abortion. It was said that women should not have to suffer for the mistakes that they have made. The frustration for me is that these "mistakes" are what I like to refer to as choices! I am not the hardcore anti-abortion fanatic that most people would expect considering my upbringing and religious beliefs; I have to admit that if my wife were a victim of rape abortion would be a consideration for me, and certainly when there are medical concerns I would not condemn anyone who made the choice to abort ... But, if you consciously and willingly make a decision that leads to pregnancy, there is only one way to get pregnant, there are consequences to that decision! Again, I normally wouldn't, but I couldn't resist to engage the topic ... A Political Science class, about 200 people, assuming very few of the college aged students would agree with me, and it was obvious that the teacher did not. I made several comments, but the final blow on which the conversation ended was when I said, "If a person makes a choice to have sex, there are certain possible outcomes from that act. To say that a person has the right to undo the affects of that act would be like saying that I could now kill my teenagers, a sort of retroactive abortion, because I decided that I no longer want to deal with the consequences of my previous actions!"

For some reason, no one had a response ...

Really ... REALLY?!?

I am, along with several others in an English class, reading a book by Shelby Steele entitled White Guilt (HarperCollins Publishers, 2006); in this book, Steele documents his experience with racism from a boy growing up in the ‘50s … Not hard to imagine the cultural changes that he has seen! Steele’s approach to the issue of civil rights and the slow demise of racism seems to be a rather fair assessment, placing guilt on both the black and white communities for the way that racial issues have “progressed” to this point (That being said, I am only about half way through the book, it could take a turn).  Needless to say, in a class of college students, this type of book gives an entirely new meaning to the word “discussion.”

I have always worked hard to be fair … I try to see things from another’s perspective! My life experience has taught me that people that can’t are not only uninformed, but also unwilling to have a legitimate conversation. However …

If you are going to enter a discussion with other reasonably intelligent people, can we at least have some intelligence behind our words? If you are trying to have influence in a discussion, it would at least seem right to sound intelligent! If you are not … Fake it until you make it!!!

When discourse has turned to discord ...

Among the many things that I do not understand is how the current political climate developed! I am sure that when the Founding Father’s laid the foundation for this great nation this is far from what they had in mind …

History recounts a the events surrounding the drafting of The Declaration of Independence as far from a fast first draft that did the trick The accounts tell us that there were several drafts that took a significant amount of time and discourse. While it might be easy to imagine a fairytale scenario in which everyone quickly agreed and shared a spirit and song, that is far from the reality. The truth is, the end result was more important than personal gain and ego … Much different than today!

Unfortunately, in today’s political climate, discourse had turned to discord!