The Content of Our Character

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Fifty years ago today the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke these words in what is, quite arguably, not only his most famous sermon but one of the greatest sermons ever given.  (And, yes, I would say that this is not simply a speech but a full-on sermon.)  Apparently the original working title was "Normalcy, Never Again," and the "I have a dream" section was improvised after King heard Mahalia Jackson call out from the crowd, "Tell them about the dream, Martin."  There's a fascinating article about all of this on Wikipedia. 

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

Speaking of fascinating articles, Jesse Washington (who covers issues of race and ethnicity for the Associated Press) has written a rather interesting piece about how this line in particular echoes in a myriad of ways today.  Titled "King 'content of character' quote inspires debate," it demonstrates how people on all sides of the political spectrum point to this line in particular to argue their positions. 

Since Washington does such a good job of laying out the various positions, I won't try to do so here.  I'll simply say, if this is the dream . . . we're still dreaming.  There is no question that we have not yet reached a place, that we are not yet a nation, in which a person is judged "not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."  (If you haven't yet read Michelle Alexander's compelling book The New Jim Crow: mass incarceration in the age of colorblindness, you owe it to yourself to do so.  The picture it paints is painful yet one I think we -- and here I'm especially talking to other comfortable white folk -- really need to see.  It says a lot about the content of our nation's character that needs to be heard.)

So on this day, when many will be thinking of the triumphant King, the King at the Lincoln Memorial before thousands, the King of the picture at the top of this post, I thought I'd remind us all of the other side of that famous life:

Pax tecum,

RevWik


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