S.C. Rep. Bakari Sellers (D-Bamberg) has offered up an interesting quote about the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – whose famous “Dream” speech celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this week.
During an appearance on PBS Newshour with Gwen Ifill, the son of 1960s-era civil rights leader Cleveland Sellers said King’s dream isn’t so much about race anymore.
Wait … what?
“For me, it’s no longer black and white,” Sellers said. “The issue of my father’s generation are still very much prevalent today, but it’s not as much black and white, as it is the haves vs. have-nots, and ensuring that everybody, no matter their race, creed or color or socioeconomic level or where they grow up, in the state of South Carolina or the United States of America, has access and the ability to attain the American dream.”
There you go … equality of opportunity for all people. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves …
Unfortunately, Sellers willingness to play the “anti-race card” stands in stark contrast to the attitude of most black leaders, who have done nothing but lead all of us on an increasingly expensive, increasingly unproductive “March To Nowhere.”
Also, imagine for a second what would happen if a white elected official said King’s speech was “no longer about black and white.”
11 comments
Equal Opportunity Is NOT Equal Outcome. Sellers has proclaimed himself a communist – it’s as clear as black and white.
“as it is the haves vs. have-nots”
More class warfare is exactly what we need.
The idea that you can only get ahead by pulling those already there down is purely a government driven notion.
Filling out forms for college grants shouldn’t be a black and white issue. People shouldn’t get handouts based on race. So yeah, I sort of agree with what he said in my own way. Everyone should be able to pursue the American dream.
Jesse and Al won’t like this.
He said exactly what a black politician who needs white votes to win his next election should say. However, I do agree with him.
Exactly. He is trying to at least sound more inclusive. Hopefully he is sincere.
This country does have a history.Acknowledge and respect.Things ain’t equal,yet.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VfsvJtIc5HI
Andre Bauer Light. At least Andre had his own business out of college…and no traffic tickets/DUI’s
He’s speaking of HAVING the ability to get out of DUI’s and NOT HAVING the ability to get out of DUI’s.
Uh, welcome to the 20th century. King’s speech was never only about black and white. Here’s King in his own words (from his “I Have a Dream” speech):
In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”
And then he said:
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
And then he said:
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
And then he said:
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
A few years later, during the Poor People’s Campaign, King spoke again about economic injustice and how blacks and whites together were victims of an unfair system.
Your praise of Bakari rings hollow, supercilious and condescending. Read your history.
We all have to EARN what we want out of life regardless of skin color which is just a color so time to move forward and stop blaming others if your life is not what you want it to be…….you want respect then give it, you want a good life then earn it, and always treat others the exact way you enjoy being treated…….