Words that still inspire many generations, including this little-known writer who, on one memorable day in 1968, heard those words and shook the hand of a humble, wise man
Forty-six years after standing in the press booth to hear Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. deliver his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech in Anaheim, California, it grieves me to witness the unfounded and, yes, I’ll say it, blasphemous attacks against free-thinking fellows by so-called men of God who purportedly espouse Dr. King’s spoken views.
Why is it that because a person may happen to be black they feel free to co-opt Dr. King, a man of distinguished service to Jesus Christ and the cause of equality among all men, remaking his language to suit a completely different and divisive agenda? An agenda of racial divide and unvarnished vitriol against anyone of color who whole-heartedly supports true freedom?
It is a certainty that what I have to say will be assailed by vicious men and women who believe someone cannot be a subscriber to Dr. King’s dream unless they are black and unequivocally liberal. Oh, they will make allowances for the white individuals who have the strange belief they have been born with some special privilege because of their skin color, creating a need to repent for their accident of birth. (BTW: “repent” means change of heart, it is not self-reproach for being unable to change one’s physiology no matter how much they might lament their appearance.) But they are otherwise unforgiving.
Plainly, when you read the text of Dr. King’s prayer for men to judge others not “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” – and I encourage folks to look up Dr. King’s actual words and sentiments without adding to or twisting them to one’s own tunnel-visioned perspective – his message will be clear to you as it was to me, a teenager who shook the devout man’s hand two weeks before he was assassinated. This experience doesn’t make me any more special than someone who wasn’t fortunate enough to stand face-to-face with a man whose stature in the world was fairly overwhelming to a young whelp from Los Angeles like me. In Dr. King’s eyes, I was a youngster who could grow up in his footsteps, revering Christ, the liberty that was built into the concept of this nation, and the true freedom that only comes by looking past the outer trappings of the man and into his heart, just as Christ did.
Thus, when a self-proclaimed man of God is disrespectful to a servant in office like Senator Tim Scott, devaluing him because he has the chutzpah to stand up for his convictions and speak them valiantly, it is not only degrading to Senator Scott but undignified of the speaker, Reverend William Barber II, who purports to adhere to to Dr. King’s vision.
These personal recollections may seem strange and pointless to some readers, most particularly those who are progressive in their politics. However, it is essential that liberals’ clear intolerance be understood by all, especially in that Dr. King embraced the vision of Christ, that all are equally created to enjoy the fruits of His liberty and that there is only one nation on this earth that was fashioned to serve every one of His children. In fact, the Constitution pointed to the abolition of slavery in its very content although progressives would have you believe otherwise (A Perfect World addresses this).
As Dr. King shared, “I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream”, we need to recall that where we are today is indeed far removed from the segregationist South of 1963 when he first told us of his dream. And this dream was inextricably tied to the vision of Christ –
“I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and 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."
Quibble with neighbors, Rev. Barber, as you present a stunted view of conservative politics, spouting that those plain-speaking standards of freedom are counter to your supposed compassion for the poor. That compassion, my friend, is nothing more than misrepresentation of Dr. King’s words… words that still inspire many generations, including this little-known writer who, on one memorable day in 1968, heard those words and shook the hand of a humble, wise man.
Former newspaper publisher, A. Dru Kristenev, grew up in the publishing industry working every angle of a paper, from ad composition and sales, to personnel management, copy writing, and overseeing all editorial content. During her tenure as a news professional, Kristenev traveled internationally as a representative of the paper and, on separate occasions, non-profit organizations. Since 2007, Kristenev has authored five fact-filled political suspense novels, the Baron Series, and two non-fiction books, all available on Amazon. Carrying an M.S. degree and having taught at premier northwest universities, she is the trustee of Scribes’ College of Journalism, which mission is to train a new generation of journalists in biblical standards of reporting. More information about the college and how to support it can be obtained by contacting Kristenev at cw.o@earthlink.net.
ChangingWind (changingwind.org) is a solutions-centered Christian ministry.
