How do you reflect on civil rights on Martin Luther King Jr Day?

[active open programming]

Please share your thoughts on civil rights in present day.I speak for noone but myself.Civil rights are a thing which all people are entitled to onentering into this world. They include our freedoms to livehappily and healthily under our own responsibility.It is for us to choose how we spend our time and wherewe direct our efforts. It is those efforts which guide thelifestyles which we lead for better or worse. All of ouractions have consequences, and most of our actionsare totally within our control. In short, we have the powerto make an impact on the world. On this day of civil rightsI am taking the opportunity to consider that impact andthe possibilities which the future holds.You, like me, have been given this wonderful opportunityto succeed in life and to find your niche in the world.I am beckoning you to take advantage of that right.You and you alone are the master of your own destiny.Make it a destiny you can be proud of, make it yours. ------

[Lebamom]

When I think of civil rights I think, of course, of all that we are entitled to as humans and as Americans. I also think of our God-given right and responsibility to think freely as well--not everyone agrees when it comes to civil rights--if you are oppressed or a minority, your civil rights have or will be challenged at some point in time. It's up to you to fix or change whatever has gone awry. On Martin Luther King Jr Day I usually reflect on the past--on people(s) who have made a life and future for themselves because nobody else believed they should or even could. Not just African-American people or even just Americans, but those worldwide who have taken a stand and made a choice to prevail in a positive way. Positive thinking, attitude and actions are the keys to civil rights for all. ------

[Bad Santa]

I find this question a quandary, for I was raised by a step father who was a card carrying member of the kkk. In a moral stand I became an anti-bigot, and yet I can not help but find contempt for people who riot and burn their own homes down, along with the homes of their neighbors. I fail to understand how people claim to honor a right to life, then bomb clinics killing people inside. I do not see why people fight over what name to call the Divine light they follow, or what hat they must wear to offer up their prayers. In short I have spent a lifetime trying to make a difference, and yet it seems like there is no end in sight.I do understand your message, and I'll do my best.ME!. ------

[Lalana]

I reflect that we still have not come far enough and too many still see MLK as not peace loving but a racist black man. That is sad but I have heard it too often to believe the world as a whole thinks otherwise. ------

[NBM]

Beautifully stated.As a child of the South, reflecting on that era of struggle that was so excruciating to witness and participate in, I can fully attest to the capacity of a single individual to impact the destiny of the whole.Reflecting on that painful time in American history, I remember one searing personal incident as a young teenager - expected by my father to turn away a black soldier (stranger to the town) who came into our family restaurant through the front door. My father who was terrified of losing our livelihood if the town turned against us, was furious when I refused to do it and proceeded to tell the hungry young man that there was a back-door he needed to use.The dignity of the soldier, even as he complied with my father, affected everyone in the restaurant. At a time when MLK's efforts were being derided daily throughout the South and violently resisted, one young soldier - without speaking a word - made a profound difference to one small community.The pain of growing up trapped in such bigotry and stupidity was indescribably painful, and we have so much to be thankful for today, as we reflect on MLK's clarity of vision, bravery and tenacity. He saved us all.But, beyond mastering our own destiny, it is significant to remember that every single action we take has a destiny of its own. ------

[path less travelled]

Well said, NBM, well said indeed.There yet exists much work to be done on the road ahead of us, for which much rests with us coming to know that we don't know so that we can come to know and then choose our lot. ------

[Bawn Nyntyn Aytetu]

Civil rights are an ideal to be greatly appreciated and valued, because they represent our diversity of free thought, and while many people wish that the people around them thought the way they do, it is our diversity of ideas that makes the human race so strong, versatile, adaptive, and creative.However, while this is true, civil rights are not worth fighting for, because the cost of fighting for something good is that each participant loses something far more valuable. Some people might say it is in our nature to fight each other, so say"may the best man win"in the spirit of healthy competition, but this is is a fundamentally flawed concept that does irreparable cumulative harm to our psyche and conscience. Science has shown us in recent medical studies that our nature is not competition, but rather cooperation, and ultimately love, not hate or fear.MLKJ is a hero for many people, and I respect those people's right to idolise him, just as many people idolise Jesus, or the prophet Muhammad, or Mahatma Gandhi, but just as there is something flawed in our belief in justice (an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth leaves the whole world blind and teethless), there is also a fundamental flaw in our idolising habits. To idolise someone is to say they are somehow better, more pure, more human than the average person, which is totally incorrect both in truth and principle. It also demoralises a person's sense of courage and resiliance, unless the hero is a hero through the empowerment of others. Martin Luthor King Jr did this, as did many others, but that doesn't make them greater or better than the average person. It just means that their presence was noticed. If you doubt these words, I can offer proof. Next time your among the public, look at someone with the intention of seeing their true beauty, their inner nature, their soul, and there's a good probability they will show it to you. All that is needed in this world is for us to be asking each other at all times to be showing each other our better nature, and to at all times be asking ourselves ..."What would LOVE do now?" ------

[Bradley P]

I spent most of the day today in rather sad, somber thought. It was in rememberance of the struggles *everyone* worldwide have to endure just to be free to live their lives--among them a young Saudi Couple in the news recently, who were said to be married, the bride's father *DID* in fact approve of the union according to the local laws....And yet....after the father died, the rest of the bride's family got greedy, complained and had the Saudi"police"bar the couple from living together as man and wife. This from a nation that is supposed to *respect* the union of man and woman in the eyes of the Lord Their God....It's everywhere. The struggle is everywhere and lives in *all* of our hearts. Still. This is why today saddens me. I've struggled all my life, in spite of treatable mental illness, in spite of coming from a poor and ruined family, to make something better of the life I have. And apparently, other people *insist on* not approving of my efforts and getting in my way. It's cost me money and goodwill to the point that I'm stuck living in public housing currently, with few hopes of re-entering the local job market anytime soon, so I can *earn money* to pay my debts.This especially hit home for me today because...I had nothing else to do *BUT* think, as my apartment building had suffered a power failure, and for some reason the lights stayed out in spite of our having a backup generator. So all I could do really was wait as the heating system slowly died down, and my apartment got colder in response to the single-digit cold outside.All I could do was wait, reflect...and wonder what might have been, if only I had been born into a"good"family, if only I had been rich in a rich man's world, if only I had *had* other people mentor me and show me how to live properly *earlier* in life than my final year of High School.Martin Luther King Jr. also once said, I believe:"...a dream too long deferred is a dream denied."And I see the truth of this written everywhere on the face of our tortured earth. White bigot separatists got to raise hell in Jena, Louisiana today. Only 30% of the school-aged girls in Afghanistan are *in school*, how many years after the"fall"of the Taliban? Putin dragged Russia back into *dictatorship* only two generations after Gorbachev had *liberated* his nation, *entirely* at his own expense as a leader of men.And *jobs*....jobs American citizens *could* use to become self-sufficient, leave the welfare system *entirely*, and liberate themselves from poverty, are fewer and farther between than ever, as Big Oil, Big Banking, and Blackwater monopolize money, repossess homes, and apply the *chokehold* to freedom, respectively.My point? The Asker is more than a bit naive in assuming that"All of our actions have consequences, and most of our actions are totally within our control. In short, we have the power to make an impact on the world. On this day of civil rights I am taking the opportunity to consider that impact andthe possibilities which the future holds.You, like me, have been given this wonderful opportunityto succeed in life and to find your niche in the world.I am beckoning you to take advantage of that right.You and you alone are the master of your own destiny.Make it a destiny you can be proud of, make it yours."He's being naive because he just doesn't admit that *other people* can resist your own good intentions for yourself. People can help you....but they can also lie to you, steal from you, and cheat you out of opportunities in life. This in main was *WHY* there was a civil rights movement in the first place. When Americans of African heiritage *stood up* for themselves singly, as individuals against organized whites, they got hunted down and lynched. This is *why* the display of *nooses in trees* in Jena was so deeply offensive, as it was a reminder of the bad old days when there *was* a conspiracy to keep a people down that used terror tactics up to *and including cold-blooded murder by hanging*.Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders were *not* so naive. They got organized themselves and stayed together for their own defense and survival. No, it wasn't racism, it was common sense back then....And some of it is common sense now....it's common sense for workers to form labor unions. It's common sense for the elderly and disabled, for children's rights activists and women's rights advocates, to band *together* to do together what *cannot* be done separately as individuals, *because* the people who do wrong *have already organized* and have their own system working *in their favor* for it.It is common sense dating back to Benjamin Franklin, who said:"If we do not hang together, we shall most certainly *hang* separately."Meaning from trees, by the neck, at English hands for rebelling....and keep in mind that Franklin was a white man himself.We are all in this struggle together. And yes,"none of our hands are clean", as Senator Obama himself noted. We have all been bigots at one time or another....the difference is, most folks don't turn hatred into a *way of life* at the expense of others now....we know it's wrong. It's common sense, not"political correctness".So why do we *NOT* stand up for ourselves, *Together*, anymore? We sure could use the mutual help. Are we scared FOX News will mock us? They have no *lives* people, it's their job to mock what they hate. This mockery protects their organizations *of hate*, some mentioned above, from *us*, by keeping us from believing that we can stand *together* and take rightful action.And yes, this also keeps us from believing that we *can* ask for help, and rightfully expect it from our peers as fellow citizens. Not that I say we should blindly and forever lean on each other....just that *so much* of what we, the people, got done, we did not as lonely, bitter people held down, but as neighbors and communities, raising barns and orphaned families and supporting local businesses.In the real world, helping each other is a blessing. Volunteers know this. In the real world, cooperation, not competition, is how most ordinary people *get it done*, and is NOT cheating. Teachers know this deep down inside, even if their jobs demand railing against it with their students.My point? Martin Luther King Jr. had *people* behind him, who had his back. *That* is why today bears his name. Civil rights start with one, but have to be *won by many*. History tells us this over and over again....?When will we listen? When will we *genuinely* help one another out of goodwill and common sense, versus doing it in the meanest, most back-stabbing and petty manner possible?When will we let each other, and when the need arises, help each other, live our lives?It could start today, this newborn year. ^_^ Just saying...Thanks for your time. ^_^ ------

[finn mchuil]

well if there is such a thing as equality, we need to be careful that we aren`t just being thrown tit bits to keep the natives quiet. In NI as late as 1969, you had to be a house holder to have a vote. Jobs were scarce for those who weren`t British which in turn meant a house hold may have several adults living there but only the house holder could vote. As late as 1972, it was acceptable to deny some one employment on religious grounds. This from a country who was fighting for democracy over seas? ------