Democrats and Martin Luther King

On the eve of Martin Luther King Day, with just one week of Democrat control of the Congress, it is clear why the Republicans’ star will rise again. First, the Congress took Monday off for football related activities. Second, one of the leading contenders for the Democrat nomination for President in 2008, Sen. Barack Obama, was widely pictured partially dressed in a beefcake pose. Then, to top it all, Sen. Barbara Boxer, a Democrat from California, in an action that can only be charitably described as despicable, took out after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, denigrating her for her failure to have dedicated herself to child-bearing. In each instance, individual Democrats failed to speak out and show any leadership, raising the question whether there is a serious member among them.

Dr. Condoleezza Rice is a Republican, but is Dr. Rice fair game for the Democrats because of her party affiliation or because of her race? Dr. Rice grew up on the civil rights battleground of Birmingham, Alabama. During her childhood, tempers between the races in that city flared so violently that even small children could justifiably fear for their lives. Dr. King herself lost a friend in a horrific bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church. Martin Luther King was well known in Dr. Rice's home town. He wrote his “Letter from Birmingham jail", (he is pictured, above, being arrested there for civil disobedience) just months before he gave his “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington DC.

With these thoughts in mind, in honor of the Martin Luther King holiday, and mindful of Dr. Rice’s recent abuse by Sen. Boxer, we reproduce the following lines from the Dream speech

"[T]he Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land."

"Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."

"Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive."

"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."

Democrats throughout the country will be celebrating their historic support of the Civil Rights movement tomorrow. But does that commitment continue today? All thoughtful Americans--Democrat or Republican--should be asking that question. Racism is ugly, and it is time for it to end.