I have a dream today

[The Lurker Below]

Do all the white families leave because they are racist? Certainly not. They leave because their house is hands down the biggest financial investment they have and their homes value is plummeting. They leave to save something of that investment. What's that say when we know that racial minorities moving into the neighborhood are going to cause home values to decrease? They might very well keep up the maintenance better than the former residents, but it doesn't matter. Wonder what was on the minds of the second, third, and fourth family in the neighborhood when they put their houses on the market?

At a young age one of my friends noted that we won't be racists once we're all shades of gray. None of us will be around to know, but it won't take too many generations to find out if he's right or not.

[The Stranger]

Do all the white families leave because they are racist? Certainly not. They leave because their house is hands down the biggest financial investment they have and their homes value is plummeting. They leave to save something of that investment. What's that say when we know that racial minorities moving into the neighborhood are going to cause home values to decrease? They might very well keep up the maintenance better than the former residents, but it doesn't matter. Wonder what was on the minds of the second, third, and fourth family in the neighborhood when they put their houses on the market?

At a young age one of my friends noted that we won't be racists once we're all shades of gray. None of us will be around to know, but it won't take too many generations to find out if he's right or not.

i doubt hes right, people will always find some reason to discriminate i fear, but even if hes right, its hardly a moral victory. the dream is about equal worth whilst being different not about equal worth whilst all being identical (atleast in the color of the skin department).

[The Lurker Below]

i doubt hes right, people will always find some reason to discriminate I fear,

I agree. But that's no reason to fear. It's the nature of humanity. At least history would indicate that. Earlier I posted: sunni/sh'ite, or serb/croat, or catholic/protestant, or ... How far back would we go and find instances of this? Forever? Homo Sapiens success has a long history of competition for survival. Humans are a herd animal, and for all our time we've pitted one herd against the other. We all want to belong to some herd. It'd be unfair to say the preacher was ignorant of our past. His words don't imply that we could view each other by the content of character, only that we as individuals should strive to achieve that.

[The Stranger]

well... it is definitely a reason to fear if you are on the side of the discriminated, oppressed, prosecuted etc. But yes, I guess its in our nature, we are a herd animal as you say.

I dont mean to say that MLK is ignorant of our past but his idea about equality and freedom through equality is definitely rooted in his religious beliefs and Im quite sure he has a different perception of humankind than one that stems from a "modern" conception about the roots of humanity.

[PanzerJaeger]

King was nothing but a con man and his 'dream' has infantilized America's second largest minority. As a demographic block, blacks were far better off in nearly every socioeconomic metric before King convinced them that true equality is bestowed, not earned. His legacy consists of welfare dependence, absentee parents, rampant violence, copycat race hucksters like Jackson and Sharpton, hyper racialization a la Trayvon Martin and several generations [snip] that have been conditioned to believe that it's all someone else's responsibility. The condition of the self identified black community in the US is a national disgrace and can largely be traced back to King's hijacking of the Civil Rights movement and his successive demogogary.

In many ways, Malcolm X's ideas centered around family, self reliance, and social cohesion would have been a better model than King's man over movement egoism and the cult of personality that he encouraged.

[a completely inoffensive name]

Why bother chipping in ACIN, this is a terrible thread anyway.

In the 1860s and the 1960s, America failed to do what it should have done. Broken the backs of the south and radically altered its culture. FOr 100 years the US believed it had won the moral war by disestablishing one structure. Then the racists proceeded to simply poison the water and segregationist views spread across the entire country.

What King did was important and his disciples are not representative of him any more than Christrians throughout history represent the principles of Jesus the man.

Malcom X was correct in advocating a struggle against all white people. How would have America's double standards held up if there was a 1960s equivalent to John Brown to serve as a martyr?

[Rhyfelwyr]

King was nothing but a con man and his 'dream' has infantilized America's second largest minority. As a demographic block, blacks were far better off in nearly every socioeconomic metric before King convinced them that true equality is bestowed, not earned.

The bit in bold could not be more plainly wrong. People should be born with basic human rights according to your own Constitution, and these were denied to blacks in America.

His legacy consists of welfare dependence, absentee parents, rampant violence,

Wow, I never knew the condition of my white Scottish neighbours was down to King's legacy.

The things you describe are being witnessed in the traditional working-classes throughout the developed world. You have a similar white underclass in America. They are perhaps the biggest victims of all, since the racial angle that is projected onto inequality issues means they are excluded from affirmative action.

copycat race hucksters like Jackson and Sharpton, hyper racialization a la Trayvon Martin and several generations of third world animals that have been conditioned to believe that it's all someone else's responsibility.

You like to play the old "take responsibility" card, and yet you seem to deny/ignore the fact that US institutions and society have any responsibility for the condition of black people. You brought them over as slaves, segregated them by law, gave them poorer schooling, poorer healthcare, and continued these practices well within living memory.

But no, it's them that need to take responsibility!

The condition of the self identified black community in the US is a national disgrace and can largely be traced back to King's hijacking of the Civil Rights movement and his successive demogogary.

Or, more likely, the fact that they generally lack the qualifications to function in the new service/finance economy. Look at the blacks in Detroit that used to work in heavy industry, what do you expect them to do now? They lack the skills needed today, they are too poor to relocate...

In many ways, Malcolm X's ideas centered around family, self reliance, and social cohesion would have been a better model than King's man over movement egoism and the cult of personality that he encouraged.

From what I've seen, MLK preached all those things as well. Acknowledging injustice where it exists is not akin to denying your own responsibility.

[HopAlongBunny]

It changed the face of racism, did not eliminate it.
Largely ignored the fight against poverty.
Completely ignored King's observation that funneling resources to foreign military adventures robbed the very citizens it was declared to protect.
Powerful, moving and completely re-caste that it might be ignored as a standard by subsequent talking heads.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opi...131532445.html

[Strike For The South]

King was nothing but a con man and his 'dream' has infantilized America's second largest minority. As a demographic block, blacks were far better off in nearly every socioeconomic metric

False. Black owned business and land were the result of an artificial market caused by de jure segregation. White businesses came along and quite simply outperformed them once this artificial bubble was popped. That isn't to shake my finger at the white businesses, it's a simple fact.

before King convinced them that true equality is bestowed, not earned.

Yes, you should be called mammy and uncle and wear that with pride. I don't know what this is getting at, I'm going to assume you have some vague idea of bootstraps.

His legacy consists of welfare dependence, absentee parents, rampant violence, copycat race hucksters like Jackson and Sharpton, hyper racialization a la Trayvon Martin and several generations of third world animals that have been conditioned to believe that it's all someone else's responsibility.

Is the national review leaking? Black peoples position in society has coalesced from extremely broad sociological factors. Some that are in their control, some that are not. I certainly fail to see how Kings legacy (an abstract, high brow idea of equality) can take credit for that. Also, Sharpton and Jackson are only as relevant as old white people who put them on CNN think they are.

The condition of the self identified black community in the US is a national disgrace and can largely be traced back to King's hijacking of the Civil Rights movement and his successive demogogary.

It's a disgrace that the entire country has played a part in.

In many ways, Malcolm X's ideas centered around family, self reliance, and social cohesion would have been a better model than King's man over movement egoism and the cult of personality that he encouraged.

Malcom X was also an anti Semitic exclusionist whose ideas were antithesis to the country I hold dear,

[drone]

King had his issues, but I think for the most part he believed what he was saying. The real problem is what his family and "friends" like Sharpton have done, milking his legacy for personal gain. The wheels were turning is those heads before he was even in the ground.