MLK: Celebrating heros!
by Ross Catrow
Today is a holiday that is not unique to Virginia — in fact it is a national holiday instituted in 1983 by President Reagan: Martin Luther King day. Did you know that Martin Luther King Jr. is the only black person honored by a Federal holiday? That seems weird to me.
Anyway MLK was a veritable amazing quote factory. For example:
One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.
And:
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Perhaps most applicable for Richmond, a quote from ’67 address titled Where do we go from here?:
Now, in order to answer the question, “Where do we go from here?” which is our theme, we must first honestly recognize where we are now. When the Constitution was written, a strange formula to determine taxes and representation declared that the Negro was sixty percent of a person. Today another curious formula seems to declare that he is fifty percent of a person. Of the good things in life, the Negro has approximately one half those of whites. of the bad things of life, he has twice those of whites. Thus half of all Negroes live in substandard housing. And Negroes have half the income of whites. When we view the negative experiences of life, the Negro has a double share. There are twice as many unemployed. The rate of infant mortality among Negroes is double that of whites and there are twice as many Negroes dying in Vietnam as whites in proportion to their size in the population.
Have things changed all that much since 1967? I think we have come a long way since then – due in large part to people like MLK and Malcolm X who focused the attention of the nation on civil rights for black people – but we still have a long way to go. Have a look at this report given by Wilder in 2k5, which we’ve discussed here before. The report is filled with discouraging and sickening statistics that need to change.
How do we change things in our city? I don’t know. Racism and the long term effects of racism are still an active part of the culture of this place. And how do you go about changing a culture? Who knows man, who knows. But I do know for Richmond to be sweet, we will have to deal with this eventually. MLK day – for me at least – is a hopeful day. A day that reminds me that maybe we can live in a city that isn’t race torn. Maybe!
Two closing thoughts: 1) I’m not trying to hate on Richmond. I love Richmond. Duh. and 2) More MLK quotes.
Very good commentary. I linked to it from my blog. I’ve got a couple of quotes to share, not from MLK, but related to what we can do to change things. First, we need to realize this:
“To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.” – James Baldwin
And second, we need to do this:
“If you want to change society then you must tell an alternative story” – Ivan Illich
and this:
“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi
my company, which will remain nameless, does not value MLK or civil rights enough to give me the day off. sigh.
“It seems fitting on Martin Luther King Day that I come and look at the Emancipation Proclamation in its original form,” Bush said after putting on a pair of reading glasses to peer at the document kept in a glass case. “Abraham Lincoln recognized that all men are created equal. Martin Luther King lived on that admonition to call our country to a higher calling, and today we celebrate the life of an American who called Americans to account when we didn’t live up to our ideals.”
MLK’s the only black person with a federal holiday… is that weird? how many other people have federal holidays?
Hahah I guess not? For some reason I felt like there were thousands of Federal Holidays tucked away in a cupboard.
i know exactly when all federal holidays are because i get them all off for work.
-midas
ps: isn’t that sad that that is my only commentary on civil rights? haha oh well.
So 1/3 of all federal holidays are for black people!?!? how come there are 0 latinos!
correction 1/3 of those federal holidays named after people are for black people
i hear jesus, santa, and the easter bunny are black for whatever that’s worth?
Some veterans are black?
jeez now i’m feeling discriminated against all of the sudden.
nic, three cheers for Che day!