Abolish MLK Jr. Day

Abolish MLK Jr. Day

by shannon | Published on January 16th, 2008, 10:18 am | Life

As Serenity and I were getting back into the car after escorting Chance to his classroom some well dessed man on his way back to his big brand new truck says, "C'mon how disgusting can you be? He has Sh** all over his windows!" WOW! He was commenting about the frost on some one's car. Sorry dude, we can't all afford brand new gas guzzlers like yours with fancy self defrosting windows. Some of us have to do the best we can with little hand scrapers.
Could it be that this (not so gentleman) had a safety concern? The thing is that there were many other vehicles with the same challenge this bitter morning; but who got out of this frosty car just like the rest of us? My Hispanic friend from out favorite town pizzeria. By the disapproving grimace on the Caucasian man's face and the germ phobic step aside he did to avoid the "cooties" as they passed each other, I'll assume this was the real issue.
The thing that drives me crazier than anything is that not only did my delivery buddy have to endure the stupidity of this angry man, but his son in Kindergarten started his day off with HATE! It is his self esteem that will pay the price for some one else's cruelty.
Yet again are we destined to pass along anger and hatred to the next generation? Is this the future we want for our children? Approaching this holiday of tolerance, dignity and love thanks to Dr. MLK Jr., I fear we've learned nothing. I vote we abolish this day of reflection and celebration until we actually deserve to have an extra day off work!

Good post.

On a related note the other day, my daughter (8 yrs old) and I was driving back from the store and out of the blue she says to me, "Daddy, I thank God for Martin Luther King". I asked her why she said that and she replied, "If it wasn't for him then I wouldn't have my really good friend Betty (Name changed to protect the innocent)". "Betty" is black and my daughter is white.

I think its pretty cool that kids today can put aside "perceived" differences and be friends. Have you ever seen two kids that had never met each other before just run up to one another and be about 6 inches away from each other's face, grab each other's hand, and then run off and play together? No words involved either. I have any it's pretty wonderful.

From MLKday.gov

Make It a Day ON, Not a Day Off!

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sought to forge the common ground on which people from all walks of life could join together to address important community issues. On January 21st, 2008, millions of Americans across the country will once again honor his legacy by taking part in a wide range of service projects—conducting food drives, painting schools and community centers, recruiting mentors for needy youth, and bringing meals to homebound neighbors, to name but a few.

In recognition of the 40th anniversary of Dr. King’s assassination, the Corporation for National and Community Service in 2008 is also pleased to join with other organizations in supporting a new initiative, “40 Days of Nonviolence: Building the Beloved Community.” Under this initiative, the King Day of Service will kick off 40 days during which families, schools, faith communities, and other organizations will plan service projects and educational activities promoting Dr. King’s message of nonviolence and social justice.

BecauseHeLives wrote:Good post.

On a related note the other day, my daughter (8 yrs old) and I was driving back from the store and out of the blue she says to me, "Daddy, I thank God for Martin Luther King". I asked her why she said that and she replied, "If it wasn't for him then I wouldn't have my really good friend Betty (Name changed to protect the innocent)". "Betty" is black and my daughter is white.

I think its pretty cool that kids today can put aside "perceived" differences and be friends. Have you ever seen two kids that had never met each other before just run up to one another and be about 6 inches away from each other's face, grab each other's hand, and then run off and play together? No words involved either. I have any it's pretty wonderful.

I have a 7 year old son and he doesn't see color, he sees people. As far as I'm concerned there's only one race on this planet, the human race.

RebelSnake wrote:I have a 7 year old son and he doesn't see color, he sees people. As far as I'm concerned there's only one race on this planet, the human race.

It sounds like you've been raising your son the same way as I have been raising my two kids (they're now 8 and 10). But be realistic: everyone (who is not physically blind) sees color/race/ethnicity. Seeing the differences isn't the problem - the problem is when a person's words/actions/etc (whether unfavorable or favorable to the other person) are based on those differences.

Somehow I think that if Martin Luther King were still alive he would have to suffer being called 'racist' for being a leader of a Black Church.

I merely pointed out that the church, in which Obama is a member, strives to keep the church all black. That seems a bit racist to me for a church to do.

MLK was a leader of a church that "happened" to be black. There is a difference.

It's posts like yours that can take a respectable thread and take it downhill right fast. Why do you do this?

Just 'happened to be black'? You'll have to explain the distinction.

My apologies to the 'respectable thread', but

Martin Luther King wrote: "Every time you set out to be kind and say nice things about people, something is pulling on you to be jealous and envious and to spread evil gossip about them."

Martin Luther King wrote:"Privileged groups rarely give up their privileges without strong resistance"

The declaration that "America is not ready for black president' and the demonising of Obama as a 'Muslim' or 'racist' is evidence that this resistance has not yet died. Let's hope that when your children are grown, the resistance will have died completely.

RebelSnake wrote:I have a 7 year old son and he doesn't see color, he sees people. As far as I'm concerned there's only one race on this planet, the human race.

Would we live in a world like this and have this sort of attitude about race if Dr. King hadn't shared his dream in his most famous speech? I wonder...

SouthernFriedInfidel wrote:
RebelSnake wrote:I have a 7 year old son and he doesn't see color, he sees people. As far as I'm concerned there's only one race on this planet, the human race.

Would we live in a world like this and have this sort of attitude about race if Dr. King hadn't shared his dream in his most famous speech? I wonder...

I have this attitude and I'm bringing my son up the same way because it's the right thing to do. MLK doesn't have anything to do with the way I interact with other people. Racism and bigotry is just wrong. I don't need anyone else to point that out to me.

SouthernFriedInfidel wrote:Would we live in a world like this and have this sort of attitude about race if Dr. King hadn't shared his dream in his most famous speech? I wonder...

Most of the world didn't have the race issue in anything like the same intensity in the first place. Growing up in the UK, the race riots and killings in the US seemed like an alien world. Not that there was/is no racism in the UK, but there was not institutionalised segregation in the same way. As kids we played with black kids and called them nignogs, but then we'd call the Irish Paddys, the Welsh Taffys, the Indians Wogs etc. It wasn't a big deal.

Not to detract from MLK, but the time made the man. If someone like MLK had stood up ten years earlier he would have have had enough support.

Serendipitous wrote:...It sounds like you've been raising your son the same way as I have been raising my two kids (they're now 8 and 10). But be realistic: everyone (who is not physically blind) sees color/race/ethnicity. Seeing the differences isn't the problem - the problem is when a person's words/actions/etc (whether unfavorable or favorable to the other person) are based on those differences.

I think even very young children see the difference. Just like they see the difference between a taller or a shorter child they meet on the play yard. They know some kids have curly hair, some have straight hair. Some kids have blue eyes, some have brown eyes. The thing is, they don't automatically read anything negative into the difference. They just like other people and go off and play together. They instinctively know this difference doesn't "make a difference" if you get my meaning. Now if they saw a new kid who had a look of rage on his face and was behaving in a menacing manner, they would sure recognize that difference too. And would place a value judgment on it. They would likely run away!

Our society has so steeped us in racial biases and stereotypes that it is a lot harder for adults to see the person rather than just the skin color. Let's hope that some day we manage to leave our kids in their natural state of not caring about unimportant differences among people and getting along with everybody.

Questioner wrote:I think even very young children see the difference. Just like they see the difference between a taller or a shorter child they meet on the play yard. They know some kids have curly hair, some have straight hair. Some kids have blue eyes, some have brown eyes. The thing is, they don't automatically read anything negative into the difference. They just like other people and go off and play together.

Wow, I totally agree. As shameful as it is, my first experience one on one with another race was my 2nd grade teacher. I made the comment she was 'chocolate' and everyone seemed to find that funny and I was embarrassed. However my parents never said a negative thing, explained to me that some people have different color due to skin pigmentation (had no idea what that was) and equated it to me having a certain hair color and my mom having a different hair color.
Later in life I heard the "N" word for the first time. I had no idea what it was, thought it was Tigger's brother. Repeated it in front of my dad and he slapped the ever loving hell outta me. I had NO idea why, all I knew was I had better not ever say it again!

Questioner wrote:Our society has so steeped us in racial biases and stereotypes that it is a lot harder for adults to see the person rather than just the skin color. Let's hope that some day we manage to leave our kids in their natural state of not caring about unimportant differences among people and getting along with everybody.

My kids come home and either tell me things or ask me questions, and those items say a lot about the families of their schoolmates. Always gives me and my rugrats something to talk about how to treat other people, how to get away from stereotyping...

January 25th, 2008, 2:24 pm Reply with quote

I guess if the anti-abortionists can steal him for their cause, it should be no surprise that his image is used to push fast food. :roll:

Liv wrote:
martin_luther_king_jr.jpg

Where was that restaurant? I looked at the side items- sweet potatoes, collards, macaroni and cheese- along with the featured specials and now I am hungry! That is a fit and proper menu- while it co-opts King's name and image, it also pays tribute in a culinary manner to a heroic man who happened to be from the south.

It's at some University supposedly...