Have we rejected the race card? Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was in jail. From that Birmingham, Alabama, jail, he wrote a letter in which he said this:
“When these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judeo-Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.”
As Americans honor the dignified life of King this week, it is fitting to reflect upon his great courage, wisdom, faith and vision. King spoke of God’s grace, of healing the nation’s people, of the values inherent in our founding documents and of a peaceful process to unity.
King’s message is one we should seek today. He is the type of leader we should seek today. Do we? King believed in a God who sees no man or woman of color but only His children.
King’s niece, Dr. Alveda C. King, who lived through the bombing of her childhood home and her father’s church and who lost both her uncle and father to violence, says, “Our nation is not yet past racism because our nation has not yet understood that there is one race: human.”
There is only one race: the human race. Ironically today, when America has her first African American president, the issue of race is being used as a source of divisiveness primarily by his own administration and his party, instead of being put to rest. The race card has not been rejected. It has been revitalized. This was not King’s dream.
King envisioned a nation that would be healed from the rift of race. He sought an America where race would no longer be a point of differentiation. Today, many organizations perpetuate the difference of color instead of embracing the similarity of souls. “There is only one race: human.”
True unity can only begin when Americans see themselves as Americans, not Caucasian or African American, Chinese or Hispanic. True unity can only begin when we pause to recognize that we are not Democrats or Republicans but Americans.
Alveda King expresses it best, “Today, I tell people in every party God is not a Democrat, God is not a Republican.”
King believed the United States Constitution and the Declaration of Independence were the “great wells of democracy” dug deeply for all people.
Today, many negate the bedrock of American principles as antiquated. But King understood the power of the founding documents and that through the amendment process the will of the people would and could be heard and respected.
Most importantly, King understood the power of unity. He understood the power of peaceful and positive action. He knew that bitterness and a perpetuation of racially based agendas only created division
America, and American unity, are best served with when positive action defies race by being blind to race. We are all a part of the human race. God sees no color. God sees no party. God sees only His proposed purpose in the lives He creates. It is up to us to find it and to deliver it.
King delivered his God-inspired purpose. His legacy calls to us today. He held his head high. He knew God saw no color. He knew that when people used color to create friction, they were only using it as a means to their own selfish ends.
King reflected the true essence of God - love, peace, grace and acceptance. Dr. Martin Luther King had a dream. Are we, as a nation, honoring that dream today?
Examiner contributor Janine Turner is a longtime actress and talk radio show host on KLIF in Dallas. She appears frequently on Friday editions of Fox News' "O'Reily Factor."
