The Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) holiday ironically honors values despised by many on the left. King’s intellectual and moral challenge to judge people by the content of their character, not by the color of their skin, is in direct opposition to leftists’ narrative that judging people’s value begins with their skin color.
Keep in mind that many on the left never agreed with MLK’s nonviolent movement of protest in the 1960s. Stokely Carmichael, the originator of the black nationalist movement (Black Power) and the Black Panthers, once stated, “When you talk of Black power, you talk of building a movement that will smash everything Western civilization has created.” Many followers of this movement enrolled in colleges in the 1970s, earned doctoral degrees in African studies (or grievance studies), and now lead or have major influence in local, state, and federal agencies, academia, the arts, and media.
While the radicals were developing leadership roles, the majority of Americans accepted MLK’s vision of judging people by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. Hence, many people would use the phrase, “I don’t see color” to confirm their buy-in of that vision. In fact, based on a Gallup poll, nearly 70 percent of Americans, black and white, rated race relations either good or very good back in 2002.
Ironically, it was in the first black president’s second term when race relations worsened. Now, less that 44 percent of Americans rate race rations as good or very good, according to Gallup’s 2021 poll. I contend that a major reason for that is the mass marketing of critical race theory (CRT), systemic racism, and DEI by Democrats.
I belong to a significant percentage of the black population that agrees with MLK’s vision and disagrees with the radical agenda that uses racial disparities to reshape the country.
When DEI Can Kill
If leftists have their way, they might decide to change the name of Dr. King’s holiday to Oppressed People’s Day. Some will think I’m guilty of hyperbole. Many will not.
For instance, for equity’s sake, both the American Bar Association and the American Medical Association have released statements that support DEI or adjusting standards to pass their exams.
Proponents of these lower standards will try to convince us it will not adversely affect the quality of these professionals. The rest of us know better.
Proud black Americans have been passing and exceeding the bar exam and medical school standards since the 1800s, even in the face of egregious, overt, and legal forms of racism. They would be rightly appalled at the notion currently peddled by leftists that standards need to be lowered in the name of “equity.”
Although blacks have been passing these exams for two centuries, leftists believe adjustments in bar exam standards and medical school scoring methods are necessary to combat disparities between the races in the criminal justice system, health care, and academic testing methodologies.
California and Delaware have lowered the points required to pass their bar exams. In the name of equity, other states are considering following suit. In addition, The Federation of State Medical Boards decided to make step one of medical school students’ first major exams a pass/fail score instead of the legacy raw test results. Without claiming the changes were for diversity reasons, some black physicians noted, “it was a step in the right direction.”
Sadly, these disparities do not start in law school and medical school.
Fatherlessness Is Behind Racial Disparities
These disparities have been a thorn in the side of the nation for decades because leftists refuse to acknowledge the dancing elephant in the room. The real driver of racial disparities is the fatherless homes crisis among black Americans.
In our lifetime, we have witnessed the transformation of the black culture from 80 percent two-parent families to 80 percent fatherless homes. Even some on the left recognize this damaging trend. Melissa Kearney, senior fellow of the left-leaning Brookings Institute and an economics professor, made the point in her book The Two-Parent Privilege: How Americans Stopped Getting Married and Started Falling Behind that the link between single parenting, inequality, and mobility in America is too strong to deny.
TakeCharge, of which I’m founder, is a grassroots organization of predominately black Americans from broken families and/or difficult upbringings who embrace King’s vision. Despite our troubled backgrounds, we have achieved a level of success in America and reject the victimhood mindset of DEI and CRT. We represent a sizable percentage of black Americans who are censored by the corporate media and marginalized because of our views and faith. We are insulted by the notion that standards need to be lowered because of “disparities.”
The racial disparities among black Americans are real, but the real drivers of those disparities have been ignored by black leaders for decades because of their lust for political power, desire for personal wealth, and fear of being held accountable. It is time black Americans realize they have been deceived by people entrusted to lead and improve their lives.
A transformation can take place for black Americans, but it must be a grassroots effort void of government incentives. The return of the cultural roots of faith, family, and education is imperative. That was the character of our culture before it accepted “help from the government.”
It is critical we begin teaching a new generation of young people the importance of marriage before children and the value of faith, and that we restore high standards of education and the desire to be educated.
These cultural changes are empowering because they require personal decision-making, individual responsibility, and commitment. They require no government aid or government approval. What they do require are black leaders who exude strong content of character — the essence of King’s vision and the reason we celebrate this day.
