Today,
I want to take a moment to commemorate one of the greatest minds of the
20th century, Dr. Martin Luther King, Junior. In fact, some of my
white friends honestly were confused by the fact that I posted an
often-overlooked but incredibly poignant quote of his on my Facebook
wall. While we’ve all heard his story in the south, we have a strong
tendency even in grade school to dismiss him as a “black thing”,
ensuring that we never actually read his words or listen to his
speeches. This is incredibly unfortunate, as it robs us of a shared
heritage, which I will come to later. What many people don’t realize is first, that while incredibly important, Dr. King was not in fact the “leader” of the civil rights movement. It was a decentralized movement, much like Occupy Wall Street is today. To claim otherwise is to ignore the fact that the civil rights movement was a grassroots effort. It required agitators of all races and socioeconomic strata. It took sustained efforts of countless unsung persons willing to look at the injustices of the day without shrinking back in fear, and willing to point these injustices out to others at the risk of being ostracized, fired, beaten, and lynched. These are unsung heroes, to whom we owe a great deal of gratitude for the advance of civil rights. That said, Dr. King provided eloquence and wit, gave a common rallying point for the masses, and (although by no means a saint) served as a most excellent role model. Racism was, of course, the first and foremost item on his plate, but it was by no means the only item. Poverty and Militarization were other pressing items on Dr. King’s agenda. So how does this play in for the rest of us? Dr. King hinted toward a fact that many of us have come to understand--that while racial warfare and class warfare are not synonymous, they are not separate items. Instead, racial warfare--the unnatural pitting of one race against another is a tactic waged in class warfare to keep the have-nots pitted against one another rather than rising up to challenge those who would oppress both. By telling poor whites that poor blacks are out to get their “rightful” jobs, steal all the “welfare checks”, and even something as silly as “stealing all our women” (yes, I’ve actually heard this), humanity is split between two factions over trivial lines, enmity is bred, and the rich are free to pillage both groups without resistance. Dr. King seems to have realized this; that’s why his dream was not for white and black to walk as mere equals, but as brothers. That’s why he said that the prosperity of whites was bound up with the prosperity of the blacks. Racism was part of King’s agenda, of course, because it was the most pressing. Often it’s said that the government cannot legislate morality. I agree, as did Dr. King, with a caveat: Until society reaches a point where it does not even occur to its members to beat, unjustly accuse, or lynch one another, there’s help to be found in enforcing laws that criminalize that kind of behavior. Until the majority can come to the point where it values and cherishes its minorities as a valued part of itself, there is more good than harm to be found in promoting policies and laws that prevent these minorities from being exploited. While many persons that were a part of the civil rights movement may disagree, I believe that Dr. King’s work spills over into every area of exploitation of an “un-people” by the masses, such as women’s rights, gay and lesbian rights, workers’ rights, and even the rights of “criminals” and undocumented aliens. Whether or not these views were endorsed and shared by Dr. King is irrelevant; each were inspired by the civil rights movement and its vision of shared existence as valued members of society. Even if he had been opposed to these causes is irrelevant; his “dream” calls out to each of us because we know it to be proper and right. As a result, violence against women has become known as shameful. Violence against gay men and lesbians has become known as shameful. There is even talk about violence against undocumented workers and the incarcerated as being shameful. And this scares those who would exploit us--which is why their pundits get louder and shriller, and undeniably more vicious with each passing day. We must take a stand against a bought-and-paid-for system of government, paid for by the rich to divide us with funds that came from wages earned by our hands but not paid to us for our labor, lest we demand our fair share. The poor whites cannot do it alone. The poor blacks cannot do it alone. The poor latinos, asians, middle-easterners, et cetera cannot do it alone. The poor straight people nor the poor gay people--they cannot do it alone. Atheists, Christians, Muslims, and Buddhists--they cannot do it alone. And as long as we buy into the carefully-crafted lies of those that have a vested interest in keeping us distracted--that any advance of some other group somehow detracts from our own well-being--they will continue to divide us and bleed us dry individually. It’s time that we take Dr. King’s dream to the next level. It’s time that we stopped being content to play in our own sandboxes. That is why, as a white gay male, I fight for the rights of not only whites, but also blacks, latinos, asians, and middle-easterners, straight or gay alike. That’s why as a free man and citizen, I stand for the rights of the foreign and the incarcerated. That’s why as an office worker, I stand for the rights of the blue-collared and white-collared alike. I don’t for one second think that my rights are somehow infringed upon by anyone seeking to have dignified lives; instead I see that if any of us are to prosper, it will be by ensuring that we all prosper. If any of us are to have our rights, it will be by protecting the rights of those who are not-us. Who are those who are not like us? Beneath the different masks of culture and accidents of birth such as gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or country of origin, we are indistinguishable. We want to earn a fair day’s pay at the end of our fair day’s work. We want to feel safe and secure in our homes and valued in our communities. We want to know that our laws are evenly enforced to protect all of us. We want our children fed and healthy, and we don’t want to feel helpless when we see another whose lot is worse than our own. In this new dream, one tantalizingly close to being a reality if we would only believe it, we are not beggars fighting over scraps. We are an army of brothers and sisters, joyous and dignified. Our wars are not wars of deprivation meant to punish or kill, but instead to seek out where our world has gone wrong and, bearing all the conviction and love in our hearts and wisdom in our minds to set things right. Doctor King, I see your dream. It did not die with you, and no amount of bullets can end it. It has grown, it has spread and sparked even greater, more ambitious dreams, and now my brother, it is time. |
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