On
April 4, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated. To
mark the 45th anniversary
of his assassination we need to initiate serious
reflection and constructive consultation on the unfinished business
of racial healing in this nation. Despite significant improvements in
elimination of racial discrimination, a cultural cynicism is still
creating a backsliding in race relations. And the fact remains that a
disproportionate number of black people are plagued by persistent
poverty, educational disparity and social inequality.
On
the
45th anniversary of
his assassination, a combined multicultural, multiracial effort is
needed to correlate his ideas and vision to the urgent problems and
challenges of a rapidly changing society. This is necessary if a way
out is to be found.
To push back racism, we
certainly need social policy and legislation. But to defeat it
permanently we need spiritual transformation and moral reeducation.
Spiritual transformation implies a sense of universal love that
transcends differences and provides a unifying frame of reference for
the diversity of human experiences. When we speak of spiritually, we
tend to think of it as something that needs to be ¨added on¨ after
everything else is said and done. Dr. King, however, defined
spirituality as the foundation for racial understanding and harmony.
Manifold manifestations
of this love are reflected in various religious and cultural systems.
Dr. King believed his dream of racial harmony was inexorably bound
with the common vision of the cultures of both the East and West
concerning the final victory of moral imperatives and the
universality of peace and justice. His intuition had led him to
believe that his dream could go beyond a mere idealist sentiment. He
felt the stage was set for its realization. His spirituality,
therefore, was not a motionless and static thing. It was, rather, a
moving and dynamic process that motivates human nature and brings
about social change.
His message of
nonviolent social action, framed after Gandhi's method of resistance
to colonialism, proved to be a powerful tool for change. The use of
peaceful means to bring about social change asserts that violence is
not a justification for ethical ends. A sense of indignation need
not lead to violence. Violence absorbs the righteous motive of its
perpetrator and leaves him wandering in its absurdity.
Dr. King believed in
the essential oneness of the human race. Racism, he believed, is a
psychosocial condition, reinforced by a distorted perception of
social reality. It obscures that oneness and violates the dignity of
humankind. The suffering of any group or race is an injury to all.
The idea of separation only hardens the alienation that is apparent
everywhere, and results in violence and conflict. The resolution of
this alienation, Dr. King observed, lies in his vision of a world
free from racial, political and ideological prejudices.
The essence of Dr.
King’s message was non-polemic. His critique of racism escapes the
narrow confines of political parochialism. According to him, racism
is a problem from within which involves the whole way of life. It is
intertwined with materialism and rampant individualism and must be
resolved from inside and outside. Any partisan approach blights the
progress of racial unity.
Racism is not an
instinctual impulse. It is a learned behavior. This should give us
hope and optimism because it holds the idea that an increase in
awareness and understanding will lead to the elimination of racial
discord and alienation. Contemporary societies are so imbued with
effects of racial tension that many have given up hope and accepted
it as an integral part of life, therefore ineradicable. Research has
shown that there is a strong relationship between human expectation
and human behavior. A negative image of our behavior and future has
the potential to become a reality and shape our fate. That is the
reason a new look at the genesis of racial prejudice is needed. Dr.
King’s call for sincerity and rectitude may help us in this arduous
learning process.
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