http://www.thedailylight.com/articles/2009/01/14/opinion/doc496eba3142869739674607.txtTo the Editor,
On the eve of his birthday, I wonder what the world would be like if Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today. I thought his quotes would best point out where his efforts would be directed.
“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”
Dr. King would surely protest the torture done by America in Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib.
“We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society.”
Dr. King would have been active in the discussion of the crimes committed by Wall Street financiers that have resulted in the economic crisis today.
“A right delayed is a right denied.”
Dr. King would have protested the passage of the Patriot Act, which removed several Constitutional rights after 9/11.
“One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions.”
Dr. King would have vigorously protested the “family detention centers” such as the T. Don Hutto Immigration Center in Taylor, Texas.
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”
Dr. King would have been at the forefront of equal access for all Americans to medical and dental care.
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
Dr. King would have opposed the War in Iraq and campaigned for use of those dollars for programs that would have benefited all Americans and ultimately, the world.
“Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American 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.”
On his 80th birthday, Dr. King would sit back, proud that an African-American is going to be sworn in as president. I hope Dr. King’s dream is finally coming true.