King's Dream

Would Dr. King be disappointed? Would he be saddened by the ways in which we have allowed material riches to be the measuring stick to success? Would his eyes fill with tears at the way that violence has become the tool of choice in the African American community? Would he be horrified at the numbers of young blacks who have met an early demise due to internalized racism and hatred of self that has engulfed certain segments of the African American community? Would he question the overemphasis of personal responsibility that has become the mantra for conservatives? Would he challenge them to examine the structural inequalities that keep certain populations struggling to gain access to the avenues that make the American dream a possibility? Would he feel that all his work was in vain? Or would he still be filled with optimism that the African American community will turn from the path of destruction and return to an ethic of love that can give birth to a new picture of blackness?