Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
My son was mad when he found out he had piano lessons on Martin Luther King day.
“We’re supposed to not do anything,” he said with a tinge of disgust in his voice when I broke the news that he was going to have to endure a half hour of piano lessons today.
It made me wonder where he got the notion that Martin Luther King day was a day when you weren’t supposed to do anything.
Clearly, the schools thought so, according to him. No school = Do nothing. Well, other than Wii.
I told he and his sister to Google civil rights so they could figure out what the day was really all about.
Wikipedia obliged:
Civil and political rights are a class of rights and freedoms that protect individuals from unwarranted government action and ensure one’s ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.
My 10-year-old daughter sort of got what this meant, but my 7-year-old son was scratching his head a bit.
I spent about a half hour giving them a lecture about civil rights and how some individuals, women, blacks, the disabled, etc. aren’t always treated fairly.
In the middle of it my daughter sat back and said, “this sounds like homework.”
She was right, it did sound like homework, or should I say work.
No one wants to hear that it’s going to take a lot of work to level the playing field for everyone. Martin Luther King put in a lot of extra hours when it came to civil rights. That work made a difference; and it also cost him his life.
Sometimes I think we need an MLK for the workplace.
* Women still don’t make equal pay for equal work.
* Bias against workers based on race, religion and disabilities is still at record levels.
* The unemployment rate among minorities, most notably blacks, is way above that of white workers.
* And don’t get me started on how the average working stiff saw their paychecks shrink during the last few decades while the upper tier of managers saw record pay and bonuses.
I know, we all deserve a day off to do nothing but things don’t change unless we do bend our backs. Right?
January 18th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
You make a good point, Eve, but it brings out a tangental point: Why have national holidays if they need not be observed? I’m working today and my kids are in school. It seems that we’ve forgotten that most of these holidays were intended to honor the contributions of those who went before us, and to allow us to reflect on those contributions.
January 18th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
Yes, what’s the point of these national holidays anyway? I’m all for workers getting more time off paid, but we seem to have lost the meaning behind many of these days that are set aside. Even reflection on contributions made by the men and women we honor is honor enough.
I like to play MLK’s speeches at home today. I love to hear his voice and listen to his words. I always hope some of it penetrates our kids’ heads. But sometimes I think things have to get really bad before people really start listening. And that’s sad.
January 19th, 2010 at 2:17 am
‘'’Then why has our great Democracy allowed gross deterioration in our cities? In Pittsburgh, we have the Hill, In LA their is Watts, you could go to every major US city and find that our posterity did nothing…nothing.
Martin Luther King was a man who was of a definitive conservative nature. It is absolutely no mistake that the majority of African Americans after after the 15th Amendment became Republicans. Because it was the Republicans who created the 15th amenment and saw it through. Our philosophy is we are all equal born in the US.
How poorly objective are the Demcacks in this century? You darn near selected George Wallace to be your Presidential nominee in ‘68.”'’
Your issue about labor is what is most prominent here. It is most assuredly not so much my fault as it is the elected buffoons we have in this country. I could have written that statement in 1915 and I would still be accurate.
The closest we may come to equality is exactly what we as a nation can do. We must be much more careful in who our lawmakers are. Otherwise we may have this chilling scenario:
http://finallyequal.com/trailer.html
http://www.finallyequal.com/clip.html
I wonder if perhaps Vonnegut was more of a prohet? I hope not.