I had told myself that I wasn’t going to blog today. My plans changed when a friend from college (who shall remain nameless) posted a status report saying she felt strange working on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. This is the first time in a number of years that I have not worked on the King holiday. For four of the last five MLK Days, I had a stressful job that only became more stressful with half of the department out. Many more of my friends’ statuses reflected experiencing today’s holiday in this way. I wish I would have had the option to work, but I’m told that with the economy being what it is… I’m sure Dr. King said something in support of the value of work, but I’m not sure what it would have been. Anyway, I guess some people shouldn’t be complaining this year.
A number of years ago, I became concerned about racial intolerance and injustice issues. For example, why does a person of color receive a longer jail sentence on average for blow than a white person? Maybe this concern grew out of my youth in Detroit, a place that has been no stranger to racial tension. Or maybe it was the time that I moved to lilly-white Indiana and got propositioned to join the Klan (which I, of course, did not do). Could it have been the time spent living in a Southern metropolitan area after living so many years in the North? Whatever made me care also made want to open up a dialogue on race in order to bring about peace and cooperation between all persons, regardless of their race, creed, color of skin, etc.
Flash forward to the summer of 2008. I was going about my day-to-day duties, hoping to break down barriers and get conversation flowing. I was repeatedly told that, no matter how much I wanted CHANGE in this regard, nor how good my heart was, I could NEVER understand what any of this was about. I was also repeatedly told that I was both racist and a supporter of slavery — because I am white. You know, a judgment being made based on the color of my skin. Thus, Dr. King’s holiday carries the same paradoxes that every other holiday has held for me — from New Years Day (starting off on the right foot by getting extremely intoxicated) to Christmas (a day when God, a spirit that can’t be contained or limited, takes the form of a physical human being).
This will be the last time I ever comment on Dr. Martin Luther King’s life, legacy or work. Instead, I will leave video clips of an alternative vision of the King assassination — one where King lived — complements of one of my favorite cartoons, The Boondocks. The moral these three clips try to communicate could be right; it could be wrong. I guess I’ll never understand, so why even try?
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I really like the videos , cause thats just whaaat would happen to MLK. Most Americans don’t have the moral fortitude to live up to his standards, or God’s for that matter.
Your bloggs are soo much morethoughtprovoking than mine. One suggestion if you can change it. Where is says “no comments” maybe more people would comment if it said “comments here”
Funny that you mention King and God in the same breath. I’ve found that there are a lot of parallels with the way people regard Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jesus. Both are teachers with powerful messages. However, for some of their followers, King and Jesus are “out there” or “in Heaven” or such, but not here. This creates a mindset that each are more important as gods or idols, thus downgrading the applicability of what they are really trying to get across. So now the followers of King who focus on the holiday and the mystique instead of in-depth study of his message lapse into judging others by their race or the color of their skin. This is similar to the way Christians spread gossip when Jesus tells us to love others or make war when Jesus talks about life and death by the sword.
I also agree with your comment about the way my comments are shown. I’ve received a lot more comments in the last couple of weeks, but I could receive a lot more if I changed “No Comments” to something else. I’ve found where to do this in my WordPress setup, but I just haven’t gotten around to it. I’ll try getting to it soon. I’m also planning to design a custom theme (after I finish some more pressing projects, that is).
OMG, Oprah as pres!? So much socio-political commentary, so much to chew on for MLK Day! I’m reminded of many of my students who need to see this… or maybe not such a good idea?
Thanks for posting this.