Today, many of the news channels are talking about the 50th
anniversary of the March on Washington (1963) and the I HAVE A DREAM speech by
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The people at MEET THE PRESS were asking their guests if the
American dream was still alive and well.
Many, now prominent people recounted how it was their
parents that guided them to realize their dreams. Many came from families in
poverty where education was a primary concern and goal even though the parents
themselves were not educated. Many cited either their fathers or their mothers
as responsible for where they are now. Some were immigrants that had to learn
English; all had remarkable stories.
The country has come a long way since 1963 but some of the
same issues still remain; how can people born into poverty rise above the
roadblocks life gives them and make their lives into success stories.
What many people on the show said was get an education and
one person said, get a very large vocabulary…interesting.
Well kids cannot do this on their own; they need caring
parents or even a parent to care about their future and push them if necessary
in the right direction.
Many people at the 2013 celebration of the 1963 march wore
Trayvon Martin t-shirts and said that the “dream” has not been achieved when an
innocent black teenager is killed walking home from the store and the killer is
set free.
This sentiment was countered by recent events where an
Australian student was shot in the back and killed while jogging by two black
teenagers who said they were just bored and wanted to do something exiting.
The other incident involved a World War 2 vet who was
dragged out of his car, robbed and beaten to death by two black teenagers.
This issue was addressed in our Sunday paper by Rochelle
Riley, a respected black journalist in Detroit.
Obviously crimes are committed by people of all colors but
the totally disproportionate amount of crimes committed by African-American men
and in most cases against other African-Americans just screams for solutions.
And this is where many are pointing to the hoopla
surrounding the Trayvon Martin case with even words from our president and the utter
lack of any attention to the cases just mentioned.
The criticism being leveled here is the inattention of the
black community and especially black leaders to the “real” problem in the
community and that is not being able to raise children (black males) in a
proper environment that fosters proper goals and behaviors that lead to a
successful life as a responsible member of the American society.
If Dr. King was with us today he would undoubtedly comment
on the vast strides made in racial equality since 1963 but he would also be
alarmed at what is happening in his beloved black community, especially in how
black males are raised.
As mentioned by many of the successful guests on the Meet
the Press program; parents and parenting is the key.
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