Reflections and thoughts on MLK Day

It's been a while since I've actually thought about what today means for America.  Things started off small but I may have gotten a little carried away.

Photo by: Associated Press

Martin Luther King, Jr. fought for racial equality and firmly believed that all men are created equal and  thanks to him, many court cases and many other civil rights activists his dreams  became a reality...sort of.

Today the phrase, "All men are created equal"  originally mentioned in the Declaration of Independence has taken on a new meaning.  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. intended the phrase to mean all on mankind is equal and not just the white men who owned land like the Declaration of Independence originally meant.  America was literally split on this idea and of equality and there are still traces of it today.

Now when I hear some people say that "all men are created equal" it's almost like they're only saying it for themselves and implying an "except if..."  All men are created equal except if you're gay, Muslim, Mexican, female and in some places if you're black.  It's like there are people out there that feel that they have the sole power to distribute civil rights amongst Americans people that fall into the "everyone else" category.

Women and African-Americans generally make less money than white men do but I'm sure there are many exceptions.  If you're Muslim, or even look Middle Eastern, and live in America then I'll bet someone has called you a terrorist or some other ridiculous name in the past 10 years.  Mexicans seem to always be regarded as illegal citizens that steal jobs and undercut American labor. Gay people in America are treated like they're almost not even people that don't deserve the same rights as everyone else. Now that gays can openly join the military it's time for other thing to change as well.

The federal government still doesn't recognize gay marriages but five states and Washington, D.C allow gays to marry in some way.  Some say that gay marriage destroys the value of marriage but I think that's all bullshit considering anywhere from 40%-50% of all marriages end in divorce ( http://www.divorcerate.org/ ).  Gays have the right to be as miserable as every other married couple, right? Maybe we're doing them a favor after all...

After taking all of that in I couldn't stop thinking about the idea that America is a melting pot.  This idea has increasingly become less and less popular and now I can see why.  Really, America is like a glass of water with honey and oil poured into it: it's all within the same glass and everything is very close together but there are still many distinct lines that separate them all and some are put above others in society.

We're all people that deserve to be treated exactly the same regardless of who you are or what you look like.

--On a lighter note: Look at the American Dream.  We all want to be remembered and MLK has a fuckin' day set aside to remember how awesome and influential he was.  How many of us are bold enough to admit that we have the same types of dreams as he did?  Better yet, who is actually going to do something to make their dreams a reality?  I guess only time will tell.