Born in 1947, I grew up during the years of the civil rights movement. But looking back I was insulated and isolated from the struggle of those whose lives were bound up with the cause so eloquently and courageously expressed by Martin Luther King.
Over the last few days, I’ve been deeply moved to see reflected in the eyes of both black and white Americans a renewed hope for something better than the surly stigma of racial injustice, poverty, and hopelessness.
Today our nation stands at the threshold of a moment that has captured the imagination of millions around the world.
While none of us can afford to put our ultimate hope in any human leader, we can share a vision for a day that will not be marred by the kind of prejudice that keeps us from seeing the priceless value of every person.
Seems to me that the following words express so powerfully the need for a day that will be realized fully only when Christ himself brings racial, ethnic, and economic prejudice to its knees. Even though he is the only One who will bring our dreams for racial equality to complete fulfillment, my heart resonates with the vision and emotion Dr. Martin Luther King expressed when he declared,
I have a dream…
“I have a 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.’
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 down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today!”
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