The Dream Fulfilled?

The fact that a new survey shows two thirds of black Americans now believe Dr. Martin Luther King's vision for race relations has been realized, can be attributed to two words: Barack Obama.



Only last March, a similar survey showed only 34% of the black community thought Dr. King's vision had been fulfilled.

What's even more astonishing is where black folks stood on the Obama candidacy as recently as the fall of 2007.

You may remember that's when so many people were questioning his blackness, where he came from, and whether his experience in America was really ours. How quickly we change!

Politically, that change came after the Iowa caucuses, but that's not really the point. On this, the day we celebrate Dr. King's life and legacy, it's important to note that race relations wasn't his only area of endeavor. Martin Luther King stood for peace, and just as importantly, a non racial society where all people, regardless of race or ethnicity, were treated the same.

On that score, we've still got work to do. It may not jump out at us like the overt racism of decades gone by, but people in America, black and white, still pigeonhole each other based on skin color. As the nation gets more diverse, we also tend to do generalize about others, like south and east Asians, and Latinos.

If you don't believe me, check out how some (not all) young black people act toward workers in a Chinese restaurant located in their community. Conversely, look closely at how some Asians stereotype both blacks and Latinos they come in contact with. This isn't the ugliness that greeted the dawn of the civil rights movement that Dr. King headed.



Yet were he alive today, one can't help but think he'd be pointing it out. Maybe I shouldn't put words or thoughts in his mouth. A lot of that has been done since he was assassinated, even by people who opposed his ideals while he lived. However, a cursory reading of his speeches beyond his famed "I Have a Dream" speech in 1963 shows a man profoundly aware of America's ills beyond racism.

Read Dr. King's speeches about the Vietnam War, and understand that race wasn't the only thing he believed needed change in America.

That's a big reason why I believe Barack Obama's efforts to end the war in Iraq will speak to Dr. King's legacy as much as anything else he'll do as president.



Putting Americans back to work at a living wage is also part of Dr. King's dream.

After all, he gave his life while trying to help striking sanitation workers in Memphis.

All of which is to say that Barack Obama's election as president isn't the end of fulfilling Dr. Martin Luther Kind's dream.

It's just the beginning. Isn't it?