The Dream Maker And The Dreamer

To say that being gay is the “new” Black is a slap in the face to the cause of equality in this country. If he were here I know he would concur because he read the same Book that I read. This inordinate behavior must not be seen in light of human rights for it is in itself contrary to the very nature of our being. If homosexual behavior is preferred over heterosexual behavior the operation of procreation would cease and mankind then becomes an endangered species. Homosexuality is a nightmare to humanity and to our country. It has no association to the Dream. And to say that because I hold these views makes me homophobic and antiquated with old religious philosophy is typical rhetoric from a movement that counterfeits such a noble man and a noble cause.

Being Black then and now is not a behavior although it has been stereotyped as such. I don’t even like fried chicken, watermelon, red soda water, I like root beer, so then being Black is not what I do it’s who I am. The social injustices that we face go far beyond our behavior in the bedroom behind closed doors. As it is we still have women seeking justice with fair wages for performing the same job, minorities still are seeking justice in the work place for the same opportunities for promotion as whites, the country needs a reasonable and fair education for all and equal housing.

Affirmative Action is America’s attempt to enact the Dream. Frederick Douglass, another great American abolitionist, once said that "If the Negro can’t stand on his own two feet then let him fall." Where would we be today without it? Our Caucasian brothers see it as a “hand out,” and our Black brothers see it as an apathetic attempt to right many wrongs, but I see it as opportunity afforded where bigotry once forbade and thereby I classify it as progress. However it is far from the “urgency of Now” that Dr. King spoke of, and I would even venture to say that it is doing what he did not want for America to do and that is to take the “tranquilizing drug of gradualism.” We are gradually moving towards the American dream becoming a reality for all.

One would have thought that with the election of Senator Barack Obama to the presidency of the United States would have brought an end to the ugliness of hate and bigotry in this country. It has not quite ended it but it has lost a lot of steam. What his election showed was the vitality and vigor of the Dream of the Present. It is the very essence of what Dr. King meant when he said that he wanted his children “to live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Now minorities in America know that they have opportunity in the land of opportunity.

Finally let us build for the “Dream of the Future.” Dr. Harper I believe that we need victory marches every year in Rowlett to remind us of the fight for justice and peace perhaps one that leads to the steps of city hall. But if the Dream of the Future is going to exist, we can’t expect legislation to do what we have to do individually. We can’t even leave it up to ourselves to perpetuate the Dream because we are carnal and as I have told you this cause is spiritual. God told the prophet Jeremiah,