WOULD KING BE PLEASED?
2 score and 6 years ago one of the brightest flame to ever light up the face of the earth and attempt to bring about justice through equality was extinguished to never shine again. Martin Luther King was undoubtedly one of the most notable activists to ever campaign for the ‘Negro’ (Black) man. His calculated character killing led the world to lose one of the greatest campaigners for peace.
He alongside many others, such as the Little Rock Nine, organisations like the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP) and their long serving members such as Thurgood Marshall, all campaigned for the equality of the coloured man. They faced great trial to enhance the position of the African American within a society which strongly opposed this campaign.
Martin Luther King, although had been an activist for a long time, largely started to gain recognition around the 1950s - 60s. He was one of the leading figures in the fight for black equality. His great use of figures of speech to portray his ideas made him one of history’s most electrifying public speakers. His ability to captivate and engage a crowd led him to deliver one of the most memorable speeches to be recorded in history. It was on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that Martin Luther King refused to partake in a laissez faire attitude towards equality. He encouraged people to believe that the ‘bank of justice’ could not be ‘bankrupt’ regarding the equality of the ‘Negro’ (Black) man. It was in this speech that King stated his dreams and desires for unity. He took us down memory lane referencing the progress experienced through the signing of the Emancipation Act of 1863 then reversed this reflective mood by encouraging us to imagine HIS preferred future thorough his expression of his hopes and dreams for the human race.
Looking back on some of the hopes outlined in the speech we ask ourselves:
Question 1 - Did we make Martin Luther King proud?
Question 2 - Did the human race successfully band together to achieve the stage of unity that King so coveted?
LET US DISCUSS
Departing from the inequality faced by the ‘Negro’ we want to broaden the point of consideration. We wish to discuss the failures of the human race, not to the black man in particular, but to any being who faces inequality. We wish to employ the dreams and desires of Martin Luther King to help us assess how well the human race has attempted to create world peace and equality.
The word equality eludes to a state of fairness; it conjures up a semantic field of words such as justness, non-discrimination and all other synonymous words which inspire us to treat others as equals and give them the respect they deserve. From a thorough evaluation of our society, we noticed inequality is something that is learnt and NOT innate. As we enter into the land of the living, as a foetus, we are not born with racist ideology or discriminatory values, so therefore society must be our teacher.
Maybe the issue with achieving equality is in the definition of equality; most people think equality is about being the same, but we think it is more about respect and the acceptance of others. If the world was to adopt a respectful and accepting personality then maybe the topic of inequality would be non-existent. However, as humans we have a desire to make everyone uniformed in the same way instead of accepting them for who they are. This is where we fail in regards to why we still experience inequality; for example the issue with Muslim women wearing a hijab. If society was to be more accepting and respectful then Muslim women wearing a hijab would not be a concern. In our opinion it is not anyone’s business how another individual wishes to live their life; if the desired form of living does not cause harm to another then who are we to combat it?
‘‘All men are created Equal’’ – Martin Luther King
King’s notion of equality being the same for every man was an echo of the words shared by Abraham Lincoln in The Gettysburg Address. Within today’s society this proposed sense of equality cannot be identified in some communities; for example the racially led killing of Stephen Lawrence in London 1993, and much recently the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson. These racially motivated murders led to racial tension within these respective communities and disappointingly attest to small signs of inequality.
However, as we seek to discuss inequality on wider scale than just that faced by the black man let us put aside the issue of racism leading to these murders and deal with the topic of murder on its own. Murder is a lack of respect for another man’s life. It is a blatant disregard for the right to live that we all possess as soon as we are conceived in the womb. Such murders destroy lives and show that a lack of equality can damage communities. If sown, inequality can be a seed which leads to major discord within the human race. It can lead to a sense of superiority over others and hinder social progress. It is a way of thinking which prevents the mind from experiencing the benefits of a unified community.
Alongside murder, sexual violence during wartime conflict is a social and political issue which highlights a lack of equality. It is an example of the inhumane actions that come from people feeling they are more valuable than others. Rape of any kind is dishonourable and when committed in the midst of war is a form of discrimination evident in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is therefore encouraging to see events such as the June 2014 global summit held to combat such a heinous crime. These summits are a selfless appeal for equality which King would be proud to see. It is steps such as these which will help achieve King’s dreams, as influential world delegates are taking the necessary steps to band together to fight for people’s rights therefore fighting for the notion “all men are created equal” and should be treated so.
‘’Table of brotherhood’’ – Martin Luther King.
The ways in which our society is run does not assist in the fight for equality. We find that we try to classify everyone, e.g. Black African, White, Hispanic, gay, bisexual etc. instead of putting everyone under an umbrella title of human being. These small constant reminders, although not intended to be a form of separation, will forever reinforce the differences between people and therefore hinder the notion of a “TABLE OF BROTHERHOOD” which in its simplest form exemplifies unity. Until we reach this stage of treating each other as human beings we can only say we have taken small steps towards achieving the desired equality that Martin Luther King died for. We have removed the obvious discrimination, but replaced it with less discrete forms of segregation.
“The smallest stain of inequality acts as a blanket over equality for all of humanity” – Oliandlola
This quote might seem extreme as it generalises one small negative action toward the whole of humanity, but it is plausible. Equality should be a desire that the whole of humanity should work towards, if we have one individual who is against this process they could be a stain on the blanket of equality as they could potentially spread their ideology in a way that causes mass indoctrination e.g. Hitler. It is individuals like these who prevent society from moving forward as they are a stain for humanity and it only takes the smallest stain to make something dirty.
Food for thought:
Will there ever be a point whereby EQUALITY becomes the opium of the people as it’s supposed to be?
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”- Martin Luther King
