I Live in This Country?

Today is, more so than not to most people, the continuation of a well-appreciated 3 day weekend. (I did not get today off, in case you were wondering) But what I am wondering is, how many people take a moment to remember and reflect on the man who brought about this holiday? I don't, really. Not in the past. The only reason I did today was due to a Fresh Air piece interviewing Michelle Alexander about her most recent book, which now is next on my list of things to read. In short, she brings forth the idea that the contemporary American incarceration system and its so-called "War On Drugs" campaign is but a redesign of the despicable Jim Crow Laws that existed before the Civil Rights era. Bold argument right? She made sense. Disturbingly and unfortunately enough, what she had to say made complete sense.

Listening to her made me think about why we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr with a national holiday in our time. Do we, as Americans, think we've made leaps and bounds in terms of achieving racial equality? The breakthroughs that occurred during the Civil Rights era were, no doubt, a big step towards gaining equality in the US. But on the other hand, it also merely made explicit racial discrimination illegal while bringing forth new and disguised ways to continue racially discriminatory practices and keep in place a system that has severely disenfranchised African Americans since they were brought here on a boat centuries ago. What's the meaning behind this holiday, then? Why erect a monument honoring Dr King in our nation's capitol? It's almost like saying, well...we haven't achieved your dream yet, and we don't know when we will, or if we ever will, but for the sake of formality we'll put you next to these other monuments representing people and historical events dotting our kids' history textbooks. Just because it seems like the natural thing to do. Not to undermine or belittle the progress that has been made--because we have come a long way--but I think oftentimes we are caught in the misguided hubris of progress. Just because restaurants no longer put up signs prohibiting 'coloreds' means we've made progress? Progress is not progress when a disproportionate number of members from the same racial group continue to be entrapped in a system that allows no way out of a life of drugs, crime, and violence. And apparently, there is no way to move forward when there are idiots like this barring the road.