Martin Luther King Day

10 Responses to "Martin Luther King Day"

• Comment by: JG

  1 01/15/07 5:45 AM | Comment Link |

  For skin read religious label - far better to get to know someone for who they really they are as a unique personality than to prejudge them because of the “religious box” or “non-religious box” we think they belong to.

  I would add to that my view that it is far better not to write people off because of certain perceived failings we observe in them - which often may be just our own prejudices. Everyone is valuable and has something to contribute.

• Comment by: Helen

  2 01/15/07 7:00 AM | Comment Link |

  Thanks JG. I don’t mind reading it as ‘religious label’ and considering our religious prejudices. But I also want to read it as ’skin color’.

  I think maybe the answer is the same - if we are willing to get to know people as the unique individuals they are, we learn to think about each one of them as a person rather than simply a member of a ‘group’ with certain physical and/or other characteristics - a group which we might have some wrong ideas and prejudices about.

• Comment by: Helen

  3 01/15/07 7:05 AM | Comment Link |

  I suppose it’s impossible to get to know everyone so that only works with a small circle of people we know.

  But perhaps knowing a few members of a group will help us understand the limitations of group stereotypes and help us not to rely on them so much.

• Comment by: D.G.

  4 01/15/07 10:31 AM | Comment Link |

  Funny, i just posted that speech on my blog…and watched it through, and that is exactly the thoughts that went through my head! Character is hard to find in the world we live in today, and when we are able to find it, do we desire to emulate it? I have a feeling that even though it maybe better when it comes to skin judging, that character judging is a long way off, but I am passionate about attempting to live my life daily attempting to live up to the dream that I join MLK Jr. in having!

• Comment by: benjamin ady

  5 01/15/07 1:19 PM | Comment Link |

  I beg forgiveness. I’m in a kind of black mood today. What if it’s an impossible dream? I mean when/where has that *ever* predominately been the case? People are inherently tribal. Maybe it’s hardwired in our genes. And we judge by what we see on the outside, and by first impressions. We can work on getting around or beyond this, but this is the … default mode.

• Comment by: trissa

  6 01/15/07 2:19 PM | Comment Link |

  I think we, as a country, have made strides toward equality. However, even as recently as a year and a half ago (Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans) we were all shown that we have a very long way to go.

• Comment by: Helen

  7 01/15/07 3:41 PM | Comment Link |

  Benjamin, I have to say I was wondering if it’s possible too. I think my part is to be careful how I judge people - at least I can do that much.

  Trissa, I agree about Katrina. I saw a home movie made by two white English guys who came to the US on vacation and got caught in the hurricane. They were taken to the Superdome. The video showed they were rescued from there before most of the other people there. I don’t understand why it took longer to rescue other people than it did to rescue them.

• Comment by: JG

  8 01/15/07 4:37 PM | Comment Link |

  I suppose it’s impossible to get to know everyone so that only works with a small circle of people we know.

  I think I see it as a question of how we relate and interact with the people we do come into contact with.

  And we judge by what we see on the outside, and by first impressions.

  Again, I agree. But I see this changing in two ways:

  1 when we make the effort to move beyond first impressions and really get to know someone. Are our first impressions set in stone or are we ready and open to developing our understanding of someone?

  2 when having got to know one or more people in a group, we change our “first impressions” of other people we encounter who appear to belong to the same group.

• Comment by: D.G.

  9 01/16/07 7:15 AM | Comment Link |

  I talked about this in my Organic Gathering last night..and they brought up a good clarification… he asked if we should be judging at all, and then it hit me…why can’t we judge the good potential in others? If i treated everyone with the potential that they were capable of living into, I think that the dream would be achievable…and I for one will attempt to live the revolution that I desire/dream to become a reality.

• Comment by: Doreen

  10 01/16/07 1:32 PM | Comment Link |

  If you’re alone at night in the parking garage and 2 guys get on the elevator with you, does your level of fear depend on the race of the guys?

  Some friends think I’m nuts because I talk to teenage African American boys.

  I realized after I turned in my congregational study that I completely forgot to discuss race in the demographics section. This was not good as far as having a complete demos section, but made me feel like I had come a long way.

  I’m white, so I can’t say how far “we’ve” come, only how far “I’ve” come.

  All I know is, send 2 otherwise equal whites & blacks to a) rent an apartment, b) buy a car, c) interview for a job and tell me we still don’t have a LONG way to go….