Who’s Mocking Who?

I was reading through your February issue, suggested by a friend, and enjoying the positive, loving attitude when I came across the headline “We are Mocking Dr. King’s Dream” and was taken aback.

Then I saw the author’s name. Carl Mumpower. I knew that once again I was going to read the “conservative” interpretation of Dr. King’s Dream. I was not disappointed. Or perhaps I was disappointed. But I wasn’t surprised.

Just a few weeks ago
during its commemoration of Dr. King, the “Democracy Now” program was
rebroadcasting some of his speeches. In one Dr. King condemned the
Vietnam War; another was his last speech given in Memphis. I had no
real emotional interest in hearing his speeches, but I thought perhaps
I should listen, given his importance in American history.

So I was just riding along with one ear to the radio when I heard Dr.
King tell the parable of the Good Samaritan. His last line was, “He
didn’t ask, ‘What’s going to happen to me if I help him?’ He asked,
‘What’s going to happen to him if I don’t help him?’”

This got my attention, and then I started to really listen. When he
said, “I’ve been to the mountaintop, and I’ve seen the promised land,”
I burst, quite spontaneously and surprisingly, into sobs. I could see
what we all had lost. A kind man, leading not just poor African
American people out of segregation and economic slavery, but all poor
and marginalized people into the promised land of justice, kindness,
and prosperity. But he was brought down by a bullet, fired by a man who
would probably consider himself a “conservative.”

The nightmare that we live in is born in the hearts of people who don’t
understand that this promised land Dr. King saw is for all of us — not
just for a few. That decency dictates that we not blame the victims.
That we are equal, under the United States Constitution, was
emphatically stated by the deaths of 650,000 Americans during the Civil
War.

We are also equal under God — no doubt about it. But anyone who thinks
we are equal in the real world of the society we live in is just not
paying attention, or is in an extreme state of denial. Unfortunately,
contrary to what Mumpower claims, we can be equal and be victims at the
same time.

I would also point out that it is usually accepted practice to call
people — even the poor and powerless — by the name they wish to be
called. To do otherwise is presumptuous and rude. I see the name
“African American” throughout the Urban News, so I assume that is an
accepted and uplifting form of self-identification, not something that
“fed the racial divide,” as Mumpower says.

Our society has disrupted communities in Iraq, Cambodia, El Salvador,
Nicaragua, all over South America, Africa, Vietnam, and Europe, causing
widespread death and destruction in the name of “conservative” values.
What today’s conservatism means is I get to keep what I got and, if you
can get it (which is not likely), you can keep what you get. A cruel
and outmoded philosophy and not fit for a civilized country.

We need to reestablish the principle of generosity toward those who
need help. We need wise leaders to help figure out how to make that
help available. And we can, and must, always hope.

With kindness and hope,
Steve Rice, Madison County