MLK Day an occasion to celebrate, continue fight for racial equality

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a holiday whose message of racial harmony and equality needs attention as much now as any time in our nation’s recent history.

When he helped lead the United States out of the dark days of segregation in the middle part of the last century, Dr. King dreamed of a world in which all people would “not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” In many ways, that dream has been realized in the form of the great strides we’ve taken toward a more tolerant and equal society. Things that were major issues in King’s day — interracial marriage, segregated schools, Jim Crow laws — are no longer at the forefront of the battle for equality, as America has moved away from the overt racism seen here since colonial times.

In many ways, the America of today is a place Dr. King would have been proud of. A black family currently occupies the White House, and African Americans, Latinos and other minorities hold prominent positions of power — including in Congress and on the Supreme Court.

But anyone who thinks King’s dream has been fully realized simply isn’t paying attention. The United States remains a nation divided in many ways, including along racial and ethnic lines. Recent protest movements in places like Ferguson, Missouri, Chicago, Illinois and Minneapolis, Minnesota, demonstrate that much remains to be done before we can claim the fight for equality has ended. The sad fact remains that blacks, Latinos and Native Americans are far more likely to end up in prison than whites, a reflection of both institutional racism on the part of some law enforcement agencies, as well as the fact that many minority communities remain as stricken with poverty as they were in the 1960s.

More recently, there have been well-publicized backlashes against immigrants to the United States, and much of the invective hurled against newcomers has been based on stereotypes about race or religion. This has given rise to sometimes-ugly displays by prominent politicians, some who have used thinly veiled racism to advance their cynical political causes.

Many have argued that the U.S. is as racially divided as it was in the 1960s, but we do not agree. For the most part, we Americans have become a tolerant, understanding people who hold equality among our most cherished virtues. Children today play with friends of many different creeds and colors without giving a second thought to race or ethnicity. This is, in part, the dream Dr. King spoke of.

But we’ve still got a long way to go. As long as local high school students drive to school sporting Confederate flags on their pick-up trucks, as long as police officers use deadly force against unarmed minorities, as long as politicians rally their bases by waving the red flag of hate, we will not have overcome.

We must use the occasion of Martin Luther King Jr. Day to both celebrate the victories won during the civil rights movement and reflect on the ways in which we can continue to move our country toward the peaceful, tolerant and accepting society we’re meant to become.