I have a dream

"We hold these truths to be self-evident,

That all men are created equal."

Tomorrow is a momentous day in the history of our nation. On the day we set aside to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Barack Obama will be sworn in to begin his second term as president of the United States of America. So the question is... Has the dream that Martin Luther King Jr. fought and died for been realized? Are we truly one nation of equals, or is there still more work to be done?

For me this is a tough question, and the only way for me to answer it is to separate the cause that Dr. King fought for with his ultimate dream of equality. If I only look at the cause, then I would say yes, we have reached the goal set forth. While racism is still seen in some places and in some people, the vast majority of people truly do follow Dr. King's hope that we will judge not by the color of skin, but by the content of their character. Barack Obama is proof of that. A man born to a father from Kenya and a mother from Kansas grew up to hold the highest job in America. He won the presidency based on his ideas, and the hope that he gave to so many, not because of the color of his skin. I believe the cause of racial equality that Dr. King died for has been achieved.

But what about his dream? The dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal." Has this dream been achieved? I have to say sadly that it has not, for we are not a nation of equals, and will never be as long as our Homosexual brothers and sisters are kept separate and denied basic rights that the rest of us take for granted. The ways and means of the oppression has changed, but that does not make it better. Until we give everyone equality we will all continue to suffer, suffer because of the people we could be, the nation we could be, the species we could be, remains just beyond our grasp and remains an elusive dream. We can see that dream and we struggle each day to make it more of a reality, if not for us to enjoy, then at least for our children. One day we will make that dream come true. I hope I will be here to see it, to finally taste true freedom.

"And when that happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing words of the old Negro spiritual:

 Free at last! Free at Last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at Last!"

Troy