Sunday, January 15, 2006

King: Dream or Nightmare, part two

More reflections on the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King.
I am a child of the Movement. I was 11 about to turn twelve when Dr. King was assasinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis Tennessee April 4,1968. I had a paper route. and I distinctly remember the headlines, that fateful morning. I remember the adults whispering about how if "they would kill King, then we really don't have a chance..." I seem to remember a new resolve in the movement after the King Assassination. The push towards academic excellence would increase. The lectures about looking the "Man" in the eye, speaking proper American Standard English, getting a job, reading... these subject became the more. Also, the mantra "lest you forget the struggle" and "never forget your history"...

Now, as a grown man, my generation can celebrate a national holiday dedicated to the life and legacy of Dr. King. We have huge resources where we can read about Dr. King and other elements of the Struggle. We are the ones who attended the integrated high schools, in fact, some of us (like me) are the first fruits of the social experiment known as integration. We watched and listened as the adults worked in the struggle. It was in our Sunday School classes that we learned to love one another, that we were promised a better and brighter day than our parent's generation (most of whom escaped the brutal policies of Jim Crow and segregation for the sunny climes of Southern Cali)... It was in our neighborhoods that we learned that someday we would not be "judged by the color of our skin, but my the content of our character.." We also learned, especially if you listened to my Grandma, "the more things change, the more they stay the same..." I remember the trips back south with my Dad and Mom... they showed us the railroad tracks that you could not cross. I noticed how the side of town my Dad grew up on was all dirt roads while the side of the tracks where white folk lived was nice and paved... I saw the signs Whites Only, Colored Only....

As I reflect on the Man of God known as Martin Luther King, I wonder what he would think if he were able to look upon today's headlines. I wonder what he would think about the most recent gang shootings. What about the police shootings of a teenager who had a slipper in one hand - the cops thought it was a gun and gunned the youngster down with nearly 20 bullets.... I wonder what he would think about the lust for corporate sponsorship dollars donated in his name to parades and activities that fill the pockets of individuals and do not go to the empowerment of some local programs that try to work the Dream.... I wonder what he would say to the young people who take advantage of the large gatherings of folk - together to celebrate the legacy of a man- to fight, shoot and loot....

I wonder what he would say to the folk I encountered today running the Martin Luther King Day Parade in Long Beach. I brought a professionally built float. The workers from the float company were all Latino. I have to say that my people, most of whom were employees of the City of Long Beach had issues with these guys. The way they talked to them... the way they tried to hinder them from doing thier job, the whole issue was surprising to me. I spent a good deal of the morning defending my workers.... It was a trip.... Now, these are black folk, coordinating a parade honoring a man of peace who says that we should judge by the content of ones character and not by the color of one's skin...

In mid-2005, The United Way of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Urban League released a report called the State of Black Los Angeles. If Dr. King were to read this report what would he say? The report says that "while achieving equality becomes more complex in an increasingly diverse society, more is at stake than the fate of a single ethnic group if we fail to find ways of creating more fair and equitable conditions. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. observed in his famous LETTER FROM A BIRMINGHAM JAIL: We are caught in an inescapable network of mutality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly".

Yes, Dr. King struggled and died for equality, but the report reflects that in Los Angeles. "Blacks have the lowest median household income at $31,905, compared to the median for Latinos at $33,820, Asians at $47,631 and Whites at $53,978. At nearly 14%, unemployment for African Americans is more than double the rate for Whites and Asians, with Latinos between the two-a longstanding pattern in Los Angeles. 41.9% of Blacks children are living in homes with the Mother Only - more than three times than other ethnic groups. Homcide rate among black males is at 78% compared to 5.5 among Asians, 18.7 among Latinos and 6.6 among WHites. Even more, the mortality rate among adolescents in Los Angeles is at 131.4 % among blacks, 77.9 among Latinos, 61.7 among Whites and 58.2 among Asians...

African American Students had the lowest proficiency scores in 2004: Reading at a proficiency or advanced level declined from 26% in the fourth grade to 17% in the 11th grade. Math proficiency declined from 28% in the fourth grade to 12% in 11th grade.

Driving While Black: Black drivers are stopped by the LAPD at a rate of 19.8 % compared to the national rate of 12.3%

Incarceration: About 13% of black men ages 18-40 are incarcerated, with rates up to 25% for school dro[outs, a sharp increase since 1970. 32% of black males born in Los Angeles in 2001 are likely to go to prison during thier lifetime, compared to 17% of Latino and 6% of whites.

The Dream.

We have to fix ourselves if we are to take the Dream to another level....

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