Liberal elites taint the dream

"This is not what King envisioned," writes La Shawn Barber in a rousing "previously published column about Martin Luther King, Jr., and the liberal elites who taint his idea of character over color":

The 40th anniversary of the March on Washington was commemorated on the Mall on August 23-24, 2003. Despite 40 years of civil rights legislation and significant gains made by blacks, liberal elites still see phantom “Whites Only” signs in the distance. The rallying cry for freedom to pursue happiness is now a demand for a guarantee of happiness.

I’ve heard the stories and rumors about King’s infidelities (and other things), but this post is about the purity of the vision of equal opportunity and equality before the law, as opposed to equal results . . . I’ll save the stories and rumors for another time. Focus on the ideas today and not the man.

Few people today are aware of the phenomenal progress made by black Americans while still under segregation. In 1963, King could only imagine how far blacks could go once discrimination was dismantled.

The U.S. Constitution is the most astounding document ever conceived, but guaranteeing happiness is not its purpose. Its function is to secure the unalienable, God-given rights of American citizens. The Constitution was drafted to ensure freedom from government interference in the pursuit of happiness. In 1776, the "divine right of kings" was formally rejected and replaced by the will of the people. Consequently, America became the freest, most powerful and wealthiest nation on the planet. And every citizen may participate.

In light of such principles, the end of human bondage was inevitable, although it took a civil war and the loss of 600,000 lives to do it. America didn’t invent slavery, but American democracy ended it.

Arguments can be made for welfare safety nets and affirmative action to make up for past wrongs, but in the end, only the pride and joy of being able to make one's own way and think for oneself -- no groupthink or p.c. victimhood need apply -- can fulfill Reverend King's dream for us all.

Comments

[goomp]

La Shawn's right on, but there is no power for the liberal pols if people can make their way without intervention of the pols.

[Michael]

It sounds corny, but the statement "I create my own destiny" is true. Some allow their destiny to be chartered by a victim status mentality, where the fault for failure lies in how other people and institutions are the cause. Others refuse to accept that someone else's actions will determine their course, and take full ownership for how they respond to obstacles. "You can't keep a good man down". Again, corny, but so true.

The baseline requirement of government & individuals is to insure equality of opportunity, and that is all. The attainment of results from acting on those opportunities is the responsibility if the individual. We are created equal in God's eyes, and loved equally by Him. But from the moment of birth onward, we diverge down inequal paths based on events, opportunities and our reactions to them.

That, to me, is what liberty and freedom is - the freedom to fail or succeed, depending on my own efforts. Thank God for Dr. King & LaShawn & Sisu!