Ignoring the unfulfilled dreams of Martin Luther King Jr.
When the Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. spoke at Mt. Rose Baptist Church in Uniontown in July of 1963, he brought a powerful message with him.
无毛视频淲e have come a long, long way, but we have got a long, long way to go,无毛视频� he told the packed congregation on Grant Street.
A month later (on Aug. 28), his son, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., delivered much the same message to the assembled masses at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., with his 无毛视频淚 Have a Dream无毛视频� speech.
It was a speech that crystallized the urgency Black Americans had to throw off the oppression of white supremacy 无毛视频� nationwide.
Sixty years later, on the very day tens of thousands of people gathered to commemorate the events of 1963, the remnants of white supremacy violently reappeared.
In Jacksonville, Florida, a crazed gunman walked into a Dollar Store carrying an AR-15 style rifle 无毛视频� adorned with swastikas 无毛视频� in search of innocent Black victims.
He killed three of them, before killing himself.
The following day, Florida无毛视频檚 governor (and presidential candidate) Ron DeSantis traveled to Jacksonville to show his support for the families of the victims of the attack at a prayer vigil.
He got booed.
Badly.
To some Black Floridians, DeSantis is no less racist than Gov. George Wallace had been in Alabama, and Orval Faubus in Little Rock, Arkansas, when both tried to block Black students from enrolling in their states无毛视频� schools decades ago.
DeSantis无毛视频� 无毛视频淲ar on Woke无毛视频� even led the NAACP to call for a formal travel advisory for the state of Florida back in May.
无毛视频淭he travel advisory comes in direct response to Governor Ron DeSantis无毛视频� aggressive attempts to erase Black history and to restrict diversity, equity, and inclusion programs in Florida schools,无毛视频� it said.
DeSantis had figured out that by getting Florida无毛视频檚 parents riled up to stop the teaching of the complete history of the nation无毛视频檚 race relations, it could catapult him to national prominence.
He无毛视频檇 engineered legislation that helped satisfy that strategy.
Thanks to DeSantis, Florida无毛视频檚 schools now avoid teaching the fullness of slavery, and its after-effects. When it was made public that some of Florida无毛视频檚 new teaching standards would include teaching students that 无毛视频渟ome Black people benefited from slavery,无毛视频� DeSantis foolishly claimed he didn无毛视频檛 have anything to do with it.
Thus, when he arrived in Jacksonville, those boos were aimed at a man they thought was using the occasion for nothing more than a photo op.
He deserved them.
The following day, another presidential candidate, Vivek Ramaswamy, made the Sunday morning news rounds.
Ramaswamy is given to bombast. But when he was asked about the murders in Jacksonville the previous day, he gave CNN无毛视频檚 Dana Bash the stock Republican answer.
无毛视频淲e have a mental health epidemic in this country,无毛视频� he said, as if reading from a cue card.
From there, he engaged in some slick verbal tap dancing around the brutal tragedy of a man who went hunting for Black people at random.
Bash didn无毛视频檛 allow Ramaswamy to engage in prefabricated rhetoric.
无毛视频淭his is very much racially motivated. The sheriff said that he went to the Dollar Store with the intent of killing Black people,无毛视频� she said.
Give credit to Ramaswamy for being quick on his feet. Even if his answers were head-scratchers.
无毛视频淚 think that is heinous. And deserved to be called out for what it is,无毛视频� said Ramaswamy. So far, so good.
But only so far!
He then went on and on about how the media, universities, and politicians have fueled what had been the 无毛视频渄ying embers无毛视频� of racism. To him, those forces have been responsible for 无毛视频渢aking something away from some people on the basis of their skin color.无毛视频�
He thinks that the problems of racial hatred in this country have been 无毛视频渇ueled无毛视频� by, well, affirmative action.
He无毛视频檚 no thoughtful revolutionary.
He无毛视频檚 just a polished fast-talker who sees the victims of racial animus as the recipients of advantages they无毛视频檝e never deserved.
Martin Luther King无毛视频檚 无毛视频淒ream无毛视频� is lost on him.
Edward A. Owens is a multi-Emmy Award winner, former reporter, and anchor for Entertainment Tonight, and 50-year TV news and newspaper veteran. E-mail him at freedoms@bellatlantic.net.