The general feeling I have nowadays is this, "Change is hard". I think that is the most important lessen Dr. King left us with. I look back at the euphoria of Inauguration day, and marvel at how quickly the tune changes. President Obama is doing nothing more then what he said he would and this is the response we have seen. It took us 8+ years to get into this mess...why does anyone think we would be out of it in just one year. The problems we face are systemic and multiple. Tinkering around the edges isn't going to cut it.
But even with all the acrimony this year has reveled in, I am still heartened by what we were a part of last year. My feelings from election day still hold true:
While the election did not change the problems I faced, bills still due, a cratering economy. Nor has it erased the injustices of old, racism is still well and truly alive, bigotry still is quite vibrant. I could look at my nieces and nephews and honestly tell them, that they could be anything their hearts desire. I could look look my parents in the eye and say, "All that you suffered, all that you have sacrificed and endured, was not for naught. Your sacrifices made this moment possible. You belong. This is your country too. You are home. You did overcome.". And to my own children, someday, I can say to them, "Though the world can be cruel, never forget this moment, when a people where finally embraced by their fellow citizens. Where the first shot fired at Fort Sumter was finally joined by a deafening chorus of 'Yes we can!'. Where we as a people took another step closer to the 'perfect union'. You can be anything you wish. The world is strange, and lets keep it that way.".
As Dr. King would say, we have all helped to advance the march of equality and freedom. Though there have been trials and tribulations, we are closer then when we started.
So on this day I will leave you with some of Dr. King's words on changing the status quo cause they seem appropriate in light of the currently political climate:
Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.
You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the city's white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative.
I think this point is very often overlooked. Whether the issue is Health Care, gay rights, or climate change, we are always told, "Now is not the right time.". Change is always painful. It is always difficult. But when it comes to alleviating inequality or providing a level playing field it is always necessary.
So that is why I support the current Health Care plan in congress. Not because it is perfect, but because it is progress. It is a step forward, like Medicare and Medicaid before it. It is a step towards making our society more humane.
Though the Democratic party has been craven and almost as corrupt as their Republican brethren. They at least have tried to offer solutions the problems which face our country. So I will choose progress (even slow, plodding progress)over obstructionism and empty rhetoric on fiscal probity.
But anyway, if we all spend some time on the sacrifices that people like Dr. King made, perhaps we can all help progress our republic towards that "more perfect Union", that Lincoln spoke so eloquently of.
-Cheers
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