"I Have a Dream" — Listen Again and Be Moved

Ronald Bailey | January 18, 2008

In honor of the upcoming Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, treat yourself and listen again to the civil rights hero's "I have a dream" speech.

Here's the link to it over at reason.tv.

Comments

|1.18.08 @ 4:05PM|#

I weep when I hear it, not only because it's so stirring, but because King's message has been completely subsumed by the left, turned on its head and diluted to the point of being unrecognizable.

|1.18.08 @ 4:07PM|#

How pathetic.

THAT'S your reaction to the speech? "Dammn liberals!"

|1.18.08 @ 4:09PM|#

In Atlanta, Philadelphia, Chicago and other cities, King staffers gathered data on the hiring patterns of corporations doing business in black communities, and called on companies to rectify disparities. "At present, SCLC has Operation Breadbasket functioning in some 12 cities, and the results have been remarkable," King wrote (quoted in Testament of Hope, James Washington, ed.), boasting of "800 new and upgraded jobs [and] several covenants with major industries."

King was well aware of the arguments used against affirmative action policies. As far back as 1964, he was writing in Why We Can't Wait: "Whenever the issue of compensatory treatment for the Negro is raised, some of our friends recoil in horror. The Negro should be granted equality, they agree; but he should ask nothing more. On the surface, this appears reasonable, but it is not realistic."

King supported affirmative action";type programs because he never confused the dream with American reality. As he put it, "A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for the Negro" to compete on a just and equal basis (quoted in Let the Trumpet Sound, by Stephen Oates).

In a 1965 Playboy interview, King compared affirmative action";style policies to the GI Bill: "Within common law we have ample precedents for special compensatory programs.... And you will remember that America adopted a policy of special treatment for her millions of veterans after the war."

|1.18.08 @ 4:11PM|#

THAT'S your reaction to the speech? "Dammn liberals!"

In a way, yes, joe. Tell me where hiring quotas, affirmative action, downgrading minority entrance requirements in public universities, blood quantum, Richard Pryor's and Dave Chappelle's "humor" have anything to do with "the content of our character."

|1.18.08 @ 4:12PM|#

joe, I don't have to even agree with King politically (and I certainly don't) to recognize the libertarianism of his soul.

TallDave|1.18.08 @ 4:13PM|#

Wait, I'm confused. You mean MLK's dream wasn't for his grandchildren to get 40 extra points on their SATs for the color of their skin?

Lew Ro... er, I mean Ron Paul|1.18.08 @ 4:13PM|#

Yeah he had a dream alright, about "seducing underage girls and boys."

|1.18.08 @ 4:13PM|#

"been completely subsumed by the left, turned on its head and diluted to the point of being unrecognizable."


For God sakes, if you have read MLK or listened to his interviews he was a socialist! His legacy has not been subsumed by the left, it has been papered over by the right and mainstream media in the United States to make him sound like he was not a true revolutionary...his vision of the United States was radical!

|1.18.08 @ 4:15PM|#

For God sakes, if you have read MLK or listened to his interviews he was a socialist!

James, I'm talking only about King's 1963 speech, not his socialist vision or his politics, which I mostly disagree with.

|1.18.08 @ 4:17PM|#

Well yes then, if you extract one speech here or there or out of the context of who the man was, then you can read anything you want into it.

|1.18.08 @ 4:18PM|#

Not to be a turn in the punch bowl but the "I've Been to The Mountain Top" Speech he gave the night before he died and basically prophesizes his death is probably more powerful than the "I Have A Dream Speech", at least for my money. Other than a couple of talks given by Lincoln at Gettysburg and his second inagural, I would put the Mountain Top speech up against any speech ever given by an American.

|1.18.08 @ 4:18PM|#

I was raised watching "Eyes on the Prize" once a year or so after it came out. It is still worth watching, and showing to the next generations so that they don't think that Civil Rights and Liberties are only won at the podium or ballot box. Because sometimes it takes more.

Bingo|1.18.08 @ 4:19PM|#

Well yes then, if you extract one speech here or there or out of the context of who the man was, then you can read anything you want into it.

But what about newsletters?

|1.18.08 @ 4:20PM|#

Off topic:
Anyone remember that cartoon that ran in the Chicago Trib in the early 90s, which showed Louis Farrakhan addressing a big crowd, and in the back was a hooded KKK guy whispering to another KKK guy, "You know, that nigger makes a lot of sense"?

|1.18.08 @ 4:20PM|#

So joe, when do we end affirmative action? In 23 more years (Sandra Day O'Connor), never?

The argument that government mandated affirmative action actually perpetuates prejudice is not one that can be cavalierly dismissed. As it stands today, Michael Jordan's kids get preference over a white West Virginia coal miner's kids. Barry Bonds' kids as well, and he grew up wealthy they are third generation upper class).

It's a two simple questions,
Is it counterproductive?
When does it end?

|1.18.08 @ 4:22PM|#

Well, Jamie, you're dead wrong. You obviously don't understand his message very well if you think it precludes that which he himself argued in favor of.

Maybe you should stop pretending to speak for him.

Martin Luther King was not your teddy bear.

Russ 2000|1.18.08 @ 4:22PM|#

After hearing the speech for the umpteenth time, read a reason interview from 1986 with another civil rights figure.

http://www.reason.com/news/show/29321.html

javier|1.18.08 @ 4:22PM|#

does any else find the term negro just as creepy and inappropriate as the other n word.

|1.18.08 @ 4:22PM|#

If we have to have affirmative action at all, make it class-based.

|1.18.08 @ 4:23PM|#

" basically prophesizes his death is probably more powerful than the "I Have A Dream Speech""


I know what you mean, gives ya chills to hear it, I think it was after the 1960's, which was the last time the elite had the fear of God put into them that we lost genuine people of courage in politics, both parties have been bought out by corporate business interests, so you can't get any respect for people of vision whether they are on the left or right. This is from a leftie who really respects Dr. Paul.

Rhywun|1.18.08 @ 4:23PM|#

Wait, I'm confused. You mean MLK's dream wasn't for his grandchildren to get 40 extra points on their SATs for the color of their skin?

Those 40 points are usually awarded in hopes of raising "diversity"--a totally different issue.

|1.18.08 @ 4:24PM|#

does any else find the term negro just as creepy and inappropriate as the other n word.

Its more old-timey and archaic than creepy or offensive IMHO.

|1.18.08 @ 4:25PM|#

J sub D,

August 27, 2021, 4:14 PM. Happy?

The answer in principle is, when it's no longer needed. When Dr. King's dream is made real.

BTW, the kids of a West Virginia coal miner would leave tire tracks over Michael Jordan's kids in the Harvard Admissions Department, if they had even remotely comparable grades. Which is as it should be, although you'll never hear anyone complaining about georgraphic and economic affirmative action.

|1.18.08 @ 4:25PM|#

Maybe you should stop pretending to speak for him.

Never pretended to. Then again, I didn't consult you, joe, obviously an expert on King's life and his thoughts.
I merely pointed out that the CONTENT OF KING'S 1963 SPEECH has little to do with the today's politics and culture of race.
Fuck, get your fat fucking head out of your ass.

Les|1.18.08 @ 4:26PM|#

...Richard Pryor's and Dave Chappelle's "humor"...

Okay, I don't know what they have to do with MLK, and I'm not crazy about Dave Chappelle, but there's never been a better stand-up comedian than Richard Pryor.

Oh, and it's a beautiful speech.

|1.18.08 @ 4:27PM|#

The answer in principle is, when it's no longer needed. When Dr. King's dream is made real.

Recipe for unending racist policies.
We need more people like joe in power to send the message to minorities that they're inferior and need the white man's help.
That'll fix everything!

|1.18.08 @ 4:28PM|#

Cesar,

At this point, class and geography (from the state level right down the neighborhood level) would probably be the right direction to move in.

I will also note that neither economic status nor the income level of one's neighborhood is about "the content of their character."

|1.18.08 @ 4:28PM|#

Now, ignoring all of the politcal debate, this memory.

When Martin Luther King jr. was assassinated in '68, my father, who was and remains, quite the bigot, called all of the kids in the family together to explainn the importance of the event and the moral greatness of the man. I was 12. I'll never forget it, ever. America absolutely should be celebrating Martin Luther King jr. I suspect there will be posts here that argue otherwise. I hope I'm wrong. That would be a sad reflection on humanity.

svf|1.18.08 @ 4:29PM|#

I would respectfully suggest posting this MLK speech instead.

Simply substitute "Iraq" for "Vietnam" and it could (and should) be spoken today...

|1.18.08 @ 4:30PM|#

Joe, so you admit that affirmative action (as it currently stands) benefits the black upper and middle classes at the expense of the poor from all races?

|1.18.08 @ 4:30PM|#

Hey Les;
Ever see the skit on the Chappelle Show where black people are finally given reparations for slavery?
Shows a group of black men and women celebrating in the street, buying booze and gold chains and Cadillacs.
Funny stuff, huh?

|1.18.08 @ 4:30PM|#

Then again, I didn't consult you, joe, obviously an expert on King's life and his thoughts.

Actually, Jamie, I ripped that from the first link to come up when I googled "Martin Luther King Affirmative Action." I am far from an expert, I just haven't gone out of my way not to know things.

We need more people like joe in power to send the message to minorities that they're inferior and need the white man's help. Oh, is that what affirmative action pioneer Martin Luther King's message was. See, I didn't know that.

You want to argue against affirmative action? Fine. Just don't pretend your argument has anything to do with Dr. King's message and vision.

|1.18.08 @ 4:31PM|#

Gettysburg and his second inagural, I would put the Mountain Top speech up against any speech ever given by an American.

Ich bin ein Berliner
Another big government liberal, whose policies have been papered over after assassination. But the speech at the wall was outstanding. I'm putting it against Kings Mountain Top, but I'm not claiming a clear winner.

Ronnie's "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" makes a nice bookend too.

|1.18.08 @ 4:31PM|#

I'm making a pre-emptive post to any MLK bashers that come on later:

Yes, he was a womanizer. So what?

Benjamin Franklin was a womanizer with an illegitimate child, but we still hold him in a high place in history.

|1.18.08 @ 4:31PM|#

I think the most disappointing thing about speeches like this now is that they are more likely to be used to sell an i-phone or something...as if buying things is the beginning of a revolution.

|1.18.08 @ 4:32PM|#

does any else find the term negro just as creepy and inappropriate as the other n word.

Nah, IIRC, it's Portuguese for black.

|1.18.08 @ 4:33PM|#

Joe, so you admit that affirmative action (as it currently stands) benefits the black upper and middle classes at the expense of the poor from all races?

No, see my earlier comment about the West Virginia coal miner's kids.

I think that the changes that have happened over the past 40 years - the decoupling that has partially occured between race and wealth/opportunity as a suburban, black middle class has taken its place in the economic and cultural mainstream - has rendered strict, race-based affirmative action less effective at its mission than it used to be.

|1.18.08 @ 4:33PM|#

MLK was not a God. He was really flawed in a lot of ways; he ran around on his wife and bought into a lot of really stupid socialist policies. People read way too much into his life both ways. Just because he was a socialist and had God knows how many mistresses doesn't mean that he wasn't absolutely right about the need to end segregation and nothing short of heroic in his efforts to end segregation. He got a lot of big things right. If anything his personal flaws point to the power of people or God or the Holy Spirit or whatever you want to believe in that such a flawed minister from shabby little church in Atlanta could do so much.

At the same time, the fact that MLK was so right about so many things doesn't mean he was right about everything or that things haven't changed a lot in 40 years. So what if MLK supported affirmative action. That was 40 years ago and maybe he was wrong then and he certainly would be wrong if he supported it now.

|1.18.08 @ 4:33PM|#

BTW, the kids of a West Virginia coal miner would leave tire tracks over Michael Jordan's kids in the Harvard Admissions Department, if they had even remotely comparable grades.

They wouldn't competing for a contract wuth the city of Detroit.

|1.18.08 @ 4:34PM|#

with

Russ 2000|1.18.08 @ 4:35PM|#

Anyone remember that cartoon that ran in the Chicago Trib in the early 90s

Reminds me of the graffiti on the overpasses on the Dan Ryan that only a blind person could miss:

PICK UP THE RED FLAG

AMERIKKKA NEEDS YOU

That stuff was visible for over TWENTY years, until some time in the early 90's. That was a daily reminder of how fucked up things were in the 60's, and now all the remembrances of that era are extremely tempered and sanitized for your protection.

|1.18.08 @ 4:36PM|#

And how about we let that be the last affirmative action comment? It was completely uncalled for to bring it up in the first place, and it would seem to have been put to rest pretty effectively.

That speech was not about affirmative action, but about a just society. Let's bicker about the best way to get there some other time.

|1.18.08 @ 4:37PM|#

"Fuck, get your fat fucking head out of your ass."

I dunno JK, considering the chickenshit bait you decided to toss out at start of the post, you might want to follow your own advice.

|1.18.08 @ 4:37PM|#

"remembrances of that era are extremely tempered and sanitized for your protection.


More like defanged...so that people don't get any crazy ideas about democracy or leave the narrow boundries of permitted thought.

|1.18.08 @ 4:38PM|#

joe, Even with all of the problems that would and do arise, I'll support economic affirmative action programs.

Shake?

|1.18.08 @ 4:39PM|#

"Benjamin Franklin was a womanizer with an illegitimate child..."

WHAT??? I donated a Benjamin to the Ron Paul campaign on Franklin's birthday, yesterday.

I guess I'll have to donate again on MLK Jr. Day to make myself feel clean again.

Mark A Tarnowski|1.18.08 @ 4:42PM|#

"Not to be a turn in the punch bowl but the "I've Been to The Mountain Top" Speech he gave the night before he died and basically prophesizes his death is probably more powerful than the "I Have A Dream Speech", at least for my money."

Mine too.

|1.18.08 @ 4:42PM|#

WHAT??? I donated a Benjamin to the Ron Paul campaign on Franklin's birthday, yesterday.

You never heard about Franklin's estranged son (and the last loyalist Governor of New Jersey) William?

|1.18.08 @ 4:42PM|#

Throw in geography with race as a fallback, and we can shake.

Do you think I "just don't get" that classifying people by race in the distribution of benefits is unseemly?

Do you think affirmative actions supporters do that because they love it, because it exemplifies what they want the world to be?

Do you think that's why Martin Luther King, the greatest prophet of racial equality and harmony in our nation's history, supported what he called "compensatory treatment?"

Rimfax|1.18.08 @ 4:45PM|#

I've (sort of) immortalized your beautiful words, joe. You've got my vote for thread winner.

|1.18.08 @ 4:46PM|#

greatest prophet of racial equality and harmony in our nation's history

I thought Robert Byrd made a few good points.
/snark

kinnath|1.18.08 @ 4:47PM|#

When Martin Luther King jr. was assassinated in '68, my father, who was and remains, quite the bigot, called all of the kids in the family together to explainn the importance of the event and the moral greatness of the man. I was 12. I'll never forget it, ever. America absolutely should be celebrating Martin Luther King jr.

I was eleven. MLK's assasination is one of the most memorable events in my lifetime.

All of the founding fathers were deeply flawed men, yet they managed to create the greatest politial framework for governing ever conceived. I've always thought that MLK fit in with them quite well.

|1.18.08 @ 4:47PM|#

What John wrote.

mlk|1.18.08 @ 4:48PM|#

"Now, let me make it clear in the beginning, that I see this war as an unjust, evil, and futile war. I preach to you today on the war in Vietnam because my conscience leaves me with no other choice. The time has come for America to hear the truth about this tragic war. In international conflicts, the truth is hard to come by because most nations are deceived about themselves. Rationalizations and the incessant search for scapegoats are the psychological cataracts that blind us to our sins. But the day has passed for superficial patriotism...

Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. ...

Polls reveal that almost fifteen million Americans explicitly oppose the war in Vietnam. Additional millions cannot bring themselves around to support it. And even those millions who do support the war [are] half-hearted, confused, and doubt-ridden. This reveals that millions have chosen to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism, to the high grounds of firm dissent, based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Now, of course, one of the difficulties in speaking out today grows the fact that there are those who are seeking to equate dissent with disloyalty. It's a dark day in our nation when high-level authorities will seek to use every method to silence dissent. But something is happening, and people are not going to be silenced. The truth must be told, and I say that those who are seeking to make it appear that anyone who opposes the war in Vietnam is a fool or a traitor or an enemy of our soldiers is a person that has taken a stand against the best in our tradition. ...

All men are bothers. All men are created equal. Every man is an heir to a legacy of dignity and worth. Every man has rights that are neither conferred by, nor derived from the State--they are God-given. Out of one blood, God made all men to dwell upon the face of the earth. What a marvelous foundation for any home! What a glorious and healthy place to inhabit. But America's strayed away, and this unnatural excursion has brought only confusion and bewilderment. It has left hearts aching with guilt and minds distorted with irrationality.

It is time for all people of conscience to call upon America to come back home. Come home, America. Omar Khayyam is right: "The moving finger writes, and having writ moves on." I call on Washington today. I call on every man and woman of good will all over America today. I call on the young men of America who must make a choice today to take a stand on this issue. Tomorrow may be too late. The book may close. And don't let anybody make you think that God chose America as his divine, messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment, and it seems that I can hear God saying to America, "You're too arrogant! And if you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I'll place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. ..."

|1.18.08 @ 4:48PM|#

"Do you think affirmative actions supporters do that because they love it, because it exemplifies what they want the world to be?"

More or less Joe. It has degenerated into bare knugle interest politics. I gaurentee you that in a moment of weakness, the black middle class will admit that there are people out there that should be given help before them, but to admit that is to make it harder for thier kid to get into college. Affirmative action is a cancer on race relations that just gives people an excuse to hate each other.

|1.18.08 @ 4:49PM|#

Rimfax - Can you guess what just went on my list of strange, wierd, different and cool websites?

Thanks for the link.

|1.18.08 @ 4:51PM|#

does any else find the term negro just as creepy and inappropriate as the other n word.

Well it was the term that decent people used in those days and the one that blacks themselves preferred until 1970 (plus or minus). Fact is that back then "black" ranked nearly as low as "colored" or "darky" in respectability.

Nah, IIRC, it's Portuguese for black.

And Spanish, as well.

Les|1.18.08 @ 4:52PM|#

Ever see the skit on the Chappelle Show where black people are finally given reparations for slavery?
Shows a group of black men and women celebrating in the street, buying booze and gold chains and Cadillacs.
Funny stuff, huh?

Actually, I think it is, because, in part, and like a lot of Chris Rock's comedic commentary on black America, it's coming from a black man's perspective. Most of the racial jokes in "Blazing Saddles" were written by Pryor. Would the sketch you mention be as funny if a white guy had written it? I don't know. A lot of things go into what people perceive as "funny."

I think Chappelle's best thing was the sketch about the blind, black KKK member.

|1.18.08 @ 4:54PM|#

Ever see the skit on the Chappelle Show where black people are finally given reparations for slavery?
Shows a group of black men and women celebrating in the street, buying booze and gold chains and Cadillacs.
Funny stuff, huh?

If you saw that sketch and assumed that Mr. Chapelle tacitly approved of those behaviors, then you missed the point entirely.

|1.18.08 @ 4:57PM|#

Most of the racial jokes in "Blazing Saddles" were written by Pryor.

That movie was brilliant because it played on a racist society's fears of what "black people are." ("Excuse me while I whip this out")
There's nothing funny about Chappelle. He's a terribly contorted racist. The man was actually surprised when he met a young white boy who proceeded to call him a "nigger," because he had heard him say it so much in his standup routines.

|1.18.08 @ 4:57PM|#

More or less Joe.

Don't break your arm patting yourself on the back for being the only person in the world who truly believes in justice and racial equality. Unlike that nasty Martin Luther King.

A hell of a lot fewer people hate each other for the race now than when Martin Luther King was a baby.

Oh, and the best Chappelle skit was about the Bionic Crackhead.

|1.18.08 @ 5:01PM|#

de stijl- Hmmm....I wonder if that means that Riley in the Boondocks isn't meant to be an example of what black culture should be.

Gillie|1.18.08 @ 5:01PM|#

"Ever see the skit on the Chappelle Show where black people are finally given reparations for slavery?"

I like the one where he plays a blind, black, white supremacist leader. Comedy gold!

|1.18.08 @ 5:03PM|#

Jamie- Is the fact that a young boy failed to understand humor aimed at adults somehow an indictment of that humor?
BTW-My personal view is that some of Chappelle's stuff is hysterically funny, while most of it just falls flat.

|1.18.08 @ 5:05PM|#

The blind klansman is my favorite.

|1.18.08 @ 5:06PM|#

"I've Been to The Mountain Top" beats it because of the incredibly tragic events that followed. I can hear the voice in my head now". It's on You Tube, btw.

I remember his death and the shock..followed a few months later by RFK's assassination (not to mention his own brither's death 4 plus years before and even frekin' George Wallace getting shot). It was a very strange time to grow up in America.

Still a beautiful speech..."I have a dream..."

Rimfax|1.18.08 @ 5:10PM|#

Hey J sub D,

It's our weird website, inasmuch as we actually want it. I saved a link to one of yours and one of John's posts on this thread.

|1.18.08 @ 5:10PM|#

That speech was not about affirmative action, but about a just society. Let's bicker about the best way to get there some other time.

*Sigh* - for once, I agree with you, joe.

Sometimes I get kind of upset that all of this knowledge destroys heroic narratives.

That's not to say that I think that we should go back to the time when narratives were dictated from the top-down, but every once in a while, I get tired of having to hear about this "warts-and-all" shit.

Can't we just stop projecting agendas onto things and just listen to what a wise person said?

I feel old.

Rimfax|1.18.08 @ 5:14PM|#

My favorite Chappelle skit is the take off on Sesame Street.

Les|1.18.08 @ 5:14PM|#

I agree, completely, Disgruntled.

And that Black White Supremacist sketch is here.

|1.18.08 @ 5:19PM|#

Rimfax, thanks for getting it started (if you did). I'll have to check my mail for the confirmation E-mail.

|1.18.08 @ 5:24PM|#

Black Bush or Racial Draft (I'm leaning towards Racial Draft because of Ashy Larry and Lamont). Best non-Dave bit is Charlie Murphy telling the Prince story.

Shit, I forgot about Negrodamus and then the follow-up with Wayne Brady goofing on Training Day - "Mooney wrote that!" was teh awsum exit line.

And then there is The Time-Haters.

|1.18.08 @ 5:48PM|#

For all the (white) libertarians who still get enraged about affirmative action let me ask you this: Would you accept $1 million to be black? If you're honest (according to polls) the answer would probably be "no".
And if that's the case, is your anger really justified towards programs that cut minorities a few points slack on admissions tests when you wouldn't accept a million bucks (plus all the "racial preferences") to be in their place?
Let me also break some bad news to you. Chances are, one day someone else is going to be offered a job that you were better qualified for on paper because they clicked with their interviewer and you didn't. Or you don't get a good position you were well qualified for because someone put the word out to a friend, and they didn't know you. Private actors often do these things, and if they have the power to do so, they're probably disproportionately white and male. So if you want to shrink the state to a much smaller size than it is now, you have to ask yourselves just how committed to genuine equality of opportunity you really are. Hope this gets you thinking.

|1.18.08 @ 5:54PM|#

Bill Pope-

If I could be the son of Michael Jordan or Bill Cosby, sure.

Would the son of Michael Jordan, Bill Cosby, or Barack Obama accept $1 million to be a poor white Appalachian? They'd probably say "no" if they had any idea what conditions are like there. At least Detroit housing projects have indoor plumbing.

|1.18.08 @ 6:04PM|#

Does anybody think that "the son of Michael Jordan or Bill Cosby" is as much as even 1% of African Americans, or of African Americans who benefit from affirmative action?

Why is this silly, strawman version of how affirmative action actually works - They were gonna let Jethro into law school, mother, but they let in Bill Cosby's son instead, so now he's gotta work in the mines - constantly brought up?

a bad person|1.18.08 @ 6:17PM|#

Impressive how much comity this thread engenders.

|1.18.08 @ 6:19PM|#

Whatever became of oratory such as this? Todays political figures are mere dwarves.

|1.18.08 @ 7:26PM|#

What strikes me is how American, how pro-American, that speech is. King was, in addition to everything else, a patriot of the highest order.

In the hard way, not the "my country right or wrong" way that those who don't suffer when it's wrong can afford to be.

What this country had to do, and what we still have to do, to make his vision real is to become more American, not less. Everything we need is already here, within us, and we just need to bring it forth.

|1.18.08 @ 7:37PM|#

What this country had to do, and what we still have to do, to make his vision real is to become more American, not less. Everything we need is already here, within us, and we just need to bring it forth.

FWIW, joe, I share your passion. I just don't know if "the brotherhood of man" can ever be enforced by law.
Anyway, despite my "get your head out of your ass" proclamation, I do share the same vision.

Urkobold™|1.18.08 @ 8:24PM|#

WHY CAN'T WE ALL JUST GET EACH OTHER'S HEADS OUT OF EACH OTHER'S ASSES?

|1.18.08 @ 8:50PM|#

Uh, because they're warm and cozy that way?

|1.18.08 @ 9:24PM|#

Great Chappelle standup! Enjoy.

Chappelle's ShowTime special in San Fran

Part 1 of his DC special (Parts 2 through 6 are linked in the "Related Videos" section)

|1.18.08 @ 10:26PM|#

And to wrap it all up in a nice package, here's what appeared on Lew Rockwell's site.

http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/epstein9.html

My goodness, not a color-blind teddy bear!

rawdawgbuffalo|1.18.08 @ 11:17PM|#

as long as we respect the king

|1.19.08 @ 12:39AM|#

capelza | January 18, 2008, 5:06pm | #
"I've Been to The Mountain Top" beats it because of the incredibly tragic events that followed. I can hear the voice in my head now". It's on You Tube, btw.

I only found part of it. The entire speech is here, right under the ad.

http://www.loveallpeople.org/mlkmountaintopspeech.html

I'd never heard it before; it's magnificent, especially in the last six or seven minutes.

His speech coming out against the Vietnam war is on YouTube. Well worth listening to, and relevant today.

|1.19.08 @ 12:40AM|#

Well, I thought I closed the italics.

screw you|1.19.08 @ 2:02AM|#

I remember his death and the shock..

Yes, I remember, too; I was in high school at the time. I remember after the word of his death made the news how some of "God's children" decided to throw a temper tantrum and burn half the cities down. I remember how they tried to shoot the firemen who were attempting to fight the fires. But I guess I'm not a color-blind teddy bear either. Fucking animals.

|1.19.08 @ 4:41AM|#

My goodness, not a color-blind teddy bear!

There, Joe. Fixed that for ya.

The Real America|1.19.08 @ 10:56AM|#

From About.com:

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929. His birthday is observed on the Third Monday in January. Find ideas for crafts, games, and more.

Or you could hop into the RV, clog up the highways, and get outta town for a Congressionally mandated three day weekend.

|1.19.08 @ 10:56AM|#

Actually, that works even better.

Why dress up deliberate blindness as a virtue?

corneilius|1.19.08 @ 11:55AM|#

my fave quote from MLK is

"The cry is always the same! We WANT TO BE FREE!"

Fact is the oppression starts at childhood, for all children are indeed exploited by adults, for religious, ideological, commercial and psychological reasons, none of which stand scrutiny.

No child is born christian, muslim, jew or any other denomination.

Yet the adults persist with their practices.

and so the cry is, a and will always the same :

"WE WANT TO BE FREE!"

|1.23.08 @ 5:18PM|#

Reference; Martin Luther Kings Dream!

"I have a dream"; those words ring as clear in my mind today as they did the day I first heard them on August 28, 1963. My mom was watching a march on Washington DC that day on the television. My brother and I were playing with our toy trucks right in front of our ironically black and white television. It was like time froze for a time and my mom and us stopped to pray for the nation right along with him. Martin Luther King spoke to the masses and the nation. At the time I didn't realize just how much he was speaking directly to me.

For the next forty five years I walked away when I heard persons making racist comments and I still do to this day. My mom taught me to respect all life no matter what their color or belief. I didn't want to be a part of the racist crowd but there are some things the government or our birthright just doesn't give us a choice over. Yes they call me white on all the government forms but in reality I'm really closer to beige.

I know however for sure that I am serving the same God that Mr. King was. I also know that that same God is fixing to bring a change upon this country that will sweep from sea to shinning sea. I know this because I have the same faith that Martin Luther King had and so do countless millions of others. You see there is really only one race - the human race - you're shallow if you see it any other way. It is now time to wake up from that dream state and bring those dreams to reality. It is time for all of us as Americans to take back our states and our country. It is time to change some of our racist laws and policies so that we can save our economy as well as our way of life.

I am referring to "White Collar Crime"; wow, that title even sounds racist and it is. White Collar doesn't mean you are white it means you are smart or at least that is what a local Solicitor told me recently when I went up against a Local investment group in South Carolina. For those of you that didn't know what white collar crime is I will attempt to help you understand. The investment group I am referring to were all nineteen as beige as I am. OK for the sake of being politically correct we were all white. They are all to use the Solicitors words "smart", and on the surface they all have the appearance of conducting legitimate businesses in the community.

My relationship had begun with the aforementioned group almost five years ago. They collaborated to set up false corporations and used persons like myself to make millions all the while moving all the money out of the country to the Cayman Islands. In many cases they would commingle the funds into their own failing businesses so as to offset losses from clients and customers that didn't pay their bills. In any case none of what they have done can be prosecuted in the criminal courts because it all falls under the "civil" rules. That means If I can't come up with the hundred and sixty thousand dollars to go after them myself the government will just let them slide under the rug.

On September 30, 2007; some of the investment group succeeded in putting Quick Transportation out of business. Quick Transportation LLC was the business that I set up over two years earlier to get away from the aforementioned group. A few of them convinced me that the others were the guilty parties and they put trucks on with my company. Shortly thereafter they began stealing their own equipment and collecting on my companies insurance. In some cases they just kept collecting payments from Quick all the while keeping said equipment in warehouses that they owned. Hundreds of police reports were filed with virtually every law enforcement agency. Some of them located in other states as the group would take equipment from there and put the same in their warehouse for months all the while collecting checks for lease payments from Quick Transportation.

The group was so "smart" they even set me up with my first and subsequently second attorney's. I paid thousands of dollars in retainers and not a single witness has been deposed. The sad thing is the first attorney I acquired was only less than a year after going into business with this group. They had set up a Corporation named Driver Resources Inc. located in Sumter, South Carolina. We grossed over seven point two million in just two years. All the money was factored through a bank in Alabama and the group would divide the proceeds on a monthly basis. When they didn't pay me I acquired their attorney and they walked me all the way to the point I am at now. I have not been able to work for the past four months because each attempt I have made has been met with another theft of a truck. The group has gone so far as to have a mechanic from a neighboring community drain the antifreeze and oil out of a truck I own so that when I crank it, it would burn up.

Police reports were filed on all of the hundreds of crimes that were committed against me as well as my company. I even have the hard drive and server that proves that Driver Resources Inc. really existed but to no avail. If the government is doing something they aren't telling me about it. Even though the constitution gives certain rights to each of us as a "victim" of crime you have to pay your own way. If I am to see justice I must find a way to find an attorney that is willing to go up against the system (brotherhood) that they have set up.

Although I am facing odds that most would turn away from I will not let the dream that Mr. King helped instill in me go away. I believe that this could be the turning point in our country. Please read more about what happened to Quick Transportation LLC in previously released statements. Stand up for equal rights and help fight against white collar crime. Don't let rich white people continue get away with murder, theft, racketeering, commingling funds, insurance fraud, loan fraud, forging documents, and the list just goes on and on. Send your support letters to Quick Transportation; PO Box 1087, Sumter, South Carolina 29151. It is time for our jails to have a more fairly represented population. Let's show the Sumter South Carolina Solicitor that they are not as smart as they think. Just because the government wants to let them go, let's wake up, and take action to make this change.

Thanks for your attention;
Edward R. Quick
President, Quick Transportation LLC