I HAVE A DREAM.....

[Jarid in Cedar]

Few phrases are as universally recognized as these words from Rev. Martin Luther King. The utterance of his speech could be the defining moment of the 20th century. It was the beginning of the end of institutionalized racism. He uttered these words as a call to all humanity to live in respect and harmony with each other. He uttered these words to our grandparents, parents, children, and grandchildren as a call to unite the United States for the purpose of advancing our country.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

Regardless of what has come from the Civil Rights movement of the 50's and 60's, MLK was dreaming of a better country for all of its inhabitants. It is our turn to take up his dream and embetter our situation.

I have a dream that I can teach my children to have a more colorblind view of the world than I have.

I have a dream that my children will always look to do good instead of striving to be right.

I have a dream that we can all overcome differences of opinion and work to the greater good.

THere are many others.


What are your dreams?

[wuapinmon]

I don't want no peace; I and I need equal rights and justice for all.

[Tick's wife]

I have a dream that my children will marry men that will take good care of them, yet let them be themselves.

I have a dream that my children will live a long life with great health.

I have a dream that my children will be thankful for the little things in life.

I have a dream that my children will not forget me when I"m old and gray (shut up Tick).

I have a dream that Tick and I will enjoy our next phase of life as two swingers.

[creekster]

it was pretty cool today. I fired p the web on the PS3 and we watched the speec on youtube over the TV. Pretty cool. You realize how powerful he was as a speaker/preacher. The words came alive. My kids asked a lot of questions and it led to a good dialog.

[The_Tick]

I have a dream that my children will marry men that will take good care of them, yet let them be themselves.

I have a dream that my children will live a long life with great health.

I have a dream that my children will be thankful for the little things in life.

I have a dream that my children will not forget me when I"m old and gray (shut up Tick).

I have a dream that Tick and I will enjoy our next phase of life as two swingers.

WTF?

[Tick's wife]

WTF?

Wednesday, Thursday, Friday?

[Eddie]

On the anniversary of the famous speech, I think I'll have to watch it again.

On the radio this morning, they were spouting off statistics and some national study had found that 75% of Blacks believe that discrimination still exists compared to only 15% of Whites. I thought that was interesting.

Also - 52% of Blacks report that they have been discriminated against. I find that sad.

I don't want to get into a debate as to what or how much. You don't have to convince me that some people who think they are being discriminated against really aren't. I've already seen that myself.

But I'm sad that this continues to be such a huge issue. A big enough issue that more than half of the people of a certain race feel that they have been victims of discrimination. And crazy that us White folks are nearly convinced it no longer happens while the vast majority of Black people believe that it still does. I'm not sure we'll ever see everything completely the same - but I'm hoping that those numbers are closer together (while being even lower) in the future.

[wuapinmon]

A startling statistic I read in the Week: there are more black men incarcerated today than there were black men freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. The bulk of our prisoner population is made up of non-violent drug offenders.

The War on Drugs™ needs to end right now.

[Katy Lied]

"Kids, let's go visit gampy Tick and his wife and check out their new rumpus room. We'll make sure to get there on Saturday and stay 4 days."

[SandYFan]

A startling statistic I read in the Week: there are more black men incarcerated today than there were black men freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. The bulk of our prisoner population is made up of non-violent drug offenders.

The War on Drugs™ needs to end right now.

Hamsterdam!

[Goatnapper'96]

A startling statistic I read in the Week: there are more black men incarcerated today than there were black men freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. The bulk of our prisoner population is made up of non-violent drug offenders.

The War on Drugs™ needs to end right now.

I agree that non violent drug offenders don't need to be in prison, but I think when we change this law/code it will not produce nearly the results in decreasing prison overpopulation or improve the lives it is intended to do. But it is still a good thing to do just that the arguments about prison overpopulation and the social cost thereof will not have the impact the argument portends. Poverty will continue to breed social problems. It always has and it always will. The overpopulation of prisons is just a symptom.

[wuapinmon]

Hamsterdam!

Hamsterdam still criminalizes it. Treatment over punishment.

"Kids, let's go visit gampy Tick and his wife and check out their new rumpus room. We'll make sure to get there on Saturday and stay 4 days."

It'll sound ridiculous, but as I was listening to the speech with my class, I thought back to early July. A former student called me up and invited me to go golfing with him. We went and had fun, later sharing a meal together. When King mentions, "I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood," I found myself quietly tearing up. Some of my former student's ancestors were slaves; my great-great-great grandfather was a slave trader in North Carolina. I made sure that no one saw me crying, not because of machismo, but just out of propriety. I didn't want to be the liberal white humanities professor crying over a speech that attacks a system that never penalized him. The line about the fate and liberty of white and black people being inextricably linked also moved me to mistiness, thinking about the current civil rights fight happening in this country. The 14th Amendment finally triumphed over Jim Crow. It'll crush separate but equal marriage too.

I agree that non violent drug offenders don't need to be in prison, but I think when we change this law/code it will not produce nearly the results in decreasing prison overpopulation or improve the lives it is intended to do. But it is still a good thing to do just that the arguments about prison overpopulation and the social cost thereof will not have the impact the argument portends. Poverty will continue to breed social problems. It always has and it always will. The overpopulation of prisons is just a symptom.

Poverty is certainly a crushing social problem. I disagree with you about it improving lives. We are destroying the social fabric of huge segments of our population through incarceration. Not only that, police spend all their time on drug cases, prohibiting real police work from being done as easily. Prohibition taught us that restricting access to a product that the market wants leads to violence. If someone tries to encroach on your exclusivity contract as a pharmacy in the strip mall where you set up shop, you can sue them in court and then have the backing of the Leviathan of the government to enforce the court's ruling. If a dealer tries to take a corner from another, the only recourse is violence. We see the hyper-machismo needed to intimidate the competition on display in the behavior of gang members. There is a shadow economy circulating through this country and the world. If we legitimized it, we restore order to chaos. That's the supply side, taking away the monetary power of gangs. We stop wrecking families by locking up men for slinging, and we help stabilize the family. We force legitimacy on illegitimate businesses, and suddently vast wealth on the street corner cannot be had (and hidden). The gangster lifestyle dies the way Capone did.

We have to deal with the colossal problem of future addiction, but I'd rather deal with that than the incredible violence written upon the backs of the poor who live in high-crime areas due to drug use. I recognize that drugs are not alcohol, and that some drugs are just awful. But, so is never-ending violence, clogging the courts, incarceration, destroying the family, and whole sections of cities that are no-man's lands. Junkies and stealing are far less threatening than a well-armed militia intent on defending their turf.

[imanihonjin]

A startling statistic I read in the Week: there are more black men incarcerated today than there were black men freed by the Emancipation Proclamation. The bulk of our prisoner population is made up of non-violent drug offenders.

The War on Drugs™ needs to end right now.

Is the war on drugs the problem? Most criminals are in the business of being criminals. If you eliminate the black market for drugs, these criminals will move into some other black market within which they can apply their criminal craft.

[wuapinmon]

Is the war on drugs the problem? Most criminals are in the business of being criminals. If you eliminate the black market for drugs, these criminals will move into some other black market within which they can apply their criminal craft.

I disagree. I think they are drawn to the drug trade, and that will go away in a generation after the easy money and allure are gone. The first ten years after legalizing all drugs would not be easy, but then we'd be free of that burden.

[imanihonjin]

I disagree. I think they are drawn to the drug trade, and that will go away in a generation after the easy money and allure are gone. The first ten years after legalizing all drugs would not be easy, but then we'd be free of that burden.

So there wouldn't be other contraband or criminal activity that would provide easy money and allure? There is never a void of illegal conduct that has a real market value. If you are willing to compromise your morals (at least the morals that society deems worth of purporting to be morals) there will always be illegal activity that people will be willing to pay you for for taking the risk that comes with compromising your morals.