THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON

            This year thousands of African Americans are travelling from around the country to Washington D.C. to commemorate the 50^th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. At that event Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I have a dream” speech. But this year, something is different. I have noticed that a picture in the local paper of the people traveling on the bus to the 1963 March included several white people. On the other hand, a picture of the people traveling to this year’s commemoration included no white people on the bus. In pictures of the rallies currently taking place in Washington I have seen fewer Whites than there were at the 1963 gathering. Why is this?

  I believe it is because the Trayvon Martin case has severely damaged relations between White and Black people in America. This is because Blacks demanded that George Zimmerman be convicted of murder regardless of whether or not he was guilty under the law. Blacks believe that Zimmerman should have been convicted of murder because he was profiling Martin and was following him. They believe that Martin had a right to attack Zimmerman and hammer him until he was bloody and that Zimmerman had no right to resort to his firearm in defense. Most white people in America are angry, upset, and disgusted by the attitudes of Black people toward the Martin case. This is similar to the anger and dismay felt by White people as a result of Black exultation following the O.J. Simpson acquittal. Whites still have not forgotten that period, and it is not likely that the response of Blacks to the Trayvon Martin case will be soon forgotten by Whites.

I therefore offer my own dream for the future of African Americans.

            I have a dream that someday African Americans will condemn the actions of a young man like Trayvon Martin for attacking a Neighborhood-Watch volunteer and violently beating him bloody because the volunteer was following him. I have a dream that someday most African American children will grow-up in homes with two dedicated parents who have the same values we all hold dear. I have a dream that someday African Americans will look upon the murder of someone like the Australian student in Oklahoma or the war veteran in Washington with horror and disgust. I have a dream that African Americans will someday condemn the actions of Black youths for joining gangs, using drugs, dropping out of school, mugging, robbing, and killing.

I have a dream that one day African Americans will stop blaming Whites for their problems, will give-up waiting for Whites to change their attitude toward Blacks, and will realize that their future is entirely in their own hands. I have a dream that African Americans will stand tall and proud and take active steps to tackle their problems and thereby change White attitudes. I have a dream that someday African Americans will not need governmental actions to help them.

I have a dream that someday African Americans will, among other things, champion education, deplore and refrain from crime, condemn the sale and use of illegal drugs, embrace the Protestant work ethic, adopt  the best parts of Western culture, and recognize the need to speak correctly, dress well, and keep clean and attractive homes. (By speaking correctly I mean speaking like President Obama.)

I have a dream that someday African Americans will be able to pass Civil Service Exams, Bar Exams, Medical Exams, and other professional and job-related exams, in proportion to if not greater than their percentage of the population. I have a dream that Whites will not avoid sending their children to predominantly Black schools, and that the testing of Black children’s’ educational achievements in mostly Black schools will not place them at the bottom of every list.

I have a dream that one day there will be no urban ghettos, and that Blacks all over America will live in well-integrated neighborhoods. I have a dream that if there are any predominantly Black neighborhoods remaining, white people will be happy to visit them and live in them. I have a dream that predominantly Black neighborhoods will not be described as “High Crime” areas.

I have a dream that White and Black people will hang-out together, eat meals in each-others’ homes, intermarry, and look upon each other as dear friends. Finally, I have a dream that someday there will be no need for changes in White attitudes toward Blacks, and that Whites and Blacks will look upon each-other as equals.