MLK Day - 2014
Today is the 28th year of observance of this type of floating Monday Holiday as established by the "Uniform Monday Holiday Act". The Holiday, honoring Martin Luther King Jr was 1st observed in 1986 after President Reagan signed it into law in 1983.
As all know, King was a V.I.P. in the civil rights movement.
As all know, King was a V.I.P. in the civil rights movement.
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We were in South Carolina and stopped for gas. I needed to use the restroom so I went in and was faced with two signs not the Men and Women ones I expected, but Whites Only and Coloreds Only. I had always thought segregation was stupid on an intellectual level but now it hit me like a brick to my 10 year old white face. Lesson 1: this was the ugly reality of the South back then.
I was instantly pissed of about this injustice, and started to use the CO restroom as an act of defiance. Then, an unwanted thought hit me. If I was in the CO restroom and a person of color came in, he or she would be stuck waiting for me. Lesson 2: racial segregation impacted people like me as well as "people of color". That day, I became a fan of MLK and the NAACP!
As a little boy in Birmingham, Alabama, I met Jackie Robinson. Yes, "42" is sentimental movie and it got to me. In college I attended a small dinner with Dr. King at a church in Hartford, CT.
I realize that the backlash against Pres. Obama proves we still have a long way to go. It's one thing to oppose his polices. That's fair game. It's another thing for a U.S. Representative from Michigan to state publically that he "couldn't stand to be in the same room with him." Or Speaker Boehner to routinely refuse social invitations to the White House in order to put the President in his place. We'll see how this plays out in history 25-30 years from now.
Now back on topic.... MLK did many great things and it is great that he is getting honored for that for a day.
Maybe one day we can all have this holiday off from work. I have absolutely no memory of seeing white or black or colored bathrooms except from my High School history books. Apparently guys in their 50's remember. I routinely talk to people at work and often never even think, hey he's a different race than me. I find more often than not, when everyone is in the same boat getting the same crappy changes to their health care or whatever, people have the same opinion regardless of race or sex. It's only because a few people who claim something is about race or sex, that I try to remember some people think it's almost always about that. It could be but in my opinion, it's not. Maybe it is among the 50 plus group who remember segregation and everything I never saw except in High School History class.
I expect whenever we get a female president and some guy says he can't stand to be in the same room as her, someone will say he is sexist. I do believe MLK's dream is alive and well. If I had a choice for president between Colin Powell or Hillary, I would hope for Powell big time. It's a difference of policies.
I am weary of being told that I am a bigot because I did not vote for a Chicago machine thug presidential candidate. I voted for Herman Cain and was very upset when his candidacy was torpedoed by the liberal media and his own party.
The only way to rid ourselves of this type of behavior is prosperity. Only prosperous countries can afford to be Green, upwardly mobile, and nondiscriminatory. The government is enslaving us through debt and economic weakness that will only extend the class and race warfare being promoted by all governments. One such program is the "student loan program" the places our young people into indentured servitude for a large portion of their lives paying a debt that cripples their ability to excel and keeps them in virtual poverty.
All governments want subjects not citizens.
II. MLK always reminded Black Americans of the debt we owed to those White Americans who marched and stood with us. Too much of that contribution is forgotten.
III. When the MLK holiday bill was being debated the question of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and Roosevelt was raised, but not resolved. Columbus Day was kept, but closing everything is optional.
Or take in a 20% off sale. Your choice. Personally I prefer the reflecting on the fact that the country is better, but if you dig the sale thing does it really matter whether it is a MLK day sale or a Washington's Birthday sale?
But things aren't perfect. Alucard tells the truth when he cites voter suppression efforts.
And Tiredtraveller, unless you voted against Obama BECAUSE he is black your vote doesn't make you racist. I voted for him both times because, well, consider the alternatives. If you really think McCain or Romney would have done better all I can say is I'm certain you're wrong. Lesser of two evils, doncha know.
But voting for Cain? Dude, the "liberal media" didn't run him off. The fact that he was a class A-1 NUTJOB cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs KA-RAY-ZEE dude got him kicked off the campaign trail. Couldn't even pay off the chicks he sexually harassed properly.. I'd sooner vote for a Juice/Crazy Joe ticket than Herman Cain.
Fuck man...Juice's platform could be "I wanna dose the water supply with molly and acid once a year and make it a holiday -- CALL IT CARROUSEL (sic) " and that would STILL be saner than ANYTHING Cain proposed.
Plus, we'd get MDMA and LSD in our water once a year. Now that's gummint I can believe in!
JUICE 2016!!! JUICE 2016!!! JUICE 2016!!! CARROUSEL!!! CARROUSEL!!! CARROUSEL!!!
Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!
RIP good man. You have returned to the STARDUST!!!