Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day!

The third Monday of January brings us the Holiday in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. and what he stood for.  To me, Dr. King was a leader in the civil rights movement who spoke of a world where people were “judged by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.”  Although strides have been made toward achieving his vision, we still have a long way to go.  Racism, both against minorities and against whites still exists.  We are subjected to daily reminders of our differences, thus perpetuating racism and preventing us from achieving Dr. King’s vision.

The frustrating thing for me is how much the media plays a role in perpetuating racism, both ways.  I was watching the college football National Championship game between Florida and Oklahoma, and the announcer pointed out the the head official was the first “African American official to call the National Championship game.”  I hadn’t even noticed that he was black until that comment was made.  Although it might be “interesting” to point out when a person of a certain race achieves something notable, to single them out BECAUSE of thier race is the very definition of racism.  I would prefer that they tell us how many years he has been an official, and give us his notable accomplishments.  Then mention that it was his first time officiating the biggest game in college football.  Why even mention race?  What does it have to do with anything?  Nothing.  It’s the “content of your character” that matters, don’t people remember what Dr. King said?  Not only is that what he said, that’s what he stood for.

Our local newspaper, the Oregonian ran a front page story on how “White” Portland is.  Pointing out a cities ethnic makeup is fine, but when you go on to say that BECAUSE of the relative lack of minorities it is a negative, well that’s racism.  Here is what the article actually says, “Portland’s lack of diversity means it is less cosmopolitan, less dynamic and at risk of being less competitive than other metro areas.”  Wow.  Less dynamic?  Is Japan less dynamic and less cosmopolitan?  99% of their population is Japanese.  Less competitive?  In what sense?  Can a newspaper actually print an article like this in 2009?  And the subscription base of the Oregonian is shrinking on a continuing basis.  With articles like this, I can see why.

 Can you imagine the outrage that would come if the shoe was on the other foot?  What if minorities were attacked and belittled?  What if the newspaper said the city was better off because of it’s “lack of minorities?”  Crime was comparatively lower, education was better, there were less unwanted pregnancies, less drug use and everyone gets along great because of a lack of diversity in racial makeup.  Can you imagine that?  No.  But apparantly it’s just fine to say the opposite.  Disgusting.  Racism.

It’s extremely frustrating to see racism perpetuated in all walks of life, by all races.  It’s a big deal when a minority coach gets passed over for a coaching job, in favor of a white candidate.  If he or she was passed up because of race, then that’s wrong.  But even if race was not the issue, it will certainly be made an issue by the media.  But it doesn’t go both ways, that’s a problem.  If a white worker is passed over for a job in favor of a minority worker, the media is nowhere to be found.  If that white worker was passed up in order to meet some minority hiring criteria, then that is wrong as well.  It goes both ways in reality, but the media seems bent on reporting injustice to minorities at a disproportionate rate.

A good analogy is the minority football coach issue.  It is mandatory for NFL teams looking to hire a new coach to at least interview a minority candidate, as well as a white candidate.  Well, there is no such rule when it comes to running backs, for example.  One of the top running backs in the Pac-10 conference this year was white.  When the pro scouts try out the next crop of running backs for the draft, are they required to look at him too?  Obviously not.  And for good reason.  The scout looks at EVERYONE because they want the BEST PLAYER for the position.  Period.  Coaching and teaching should be no different.  In a perfect world we would always hire the BEST PERSON for the job, irrespective of their race.  Just like Dr. King professed.  Obviously, we don’t live in a perfect world, but mandating interviewing minority candidates for a job is a slippery slope.  I don’t believe it solves racism at all.  It actually perpetuates it.

We will never be rid of racism as long as we look at each other as different.  I wrote a blog that was picked up by several newspapapers a few months ago.  The title was “Celebrate diversity?  How about Unity!”  Will Smith, the actor, said it well when he said he would like to be know NOT as an African American, but as an “American of African decent.”

It’s time, especially starting tomorrow when Barack Obama becomes the President of the United States, to start celebrating our unity.  We are all Americans.  We should stand together and look at the “content of our character”, NOT the color of our skin (for good or bad.) 

I understand that it’s not just this simple.  Different races DO act differently.  So, singling out a certain group the help them in specific areas can be construed as racism as well.  But if we just let ourselves fall to the lowest common denominator (whatever that may be), none of us are better off.  It’s a good and healthy thing to set a higher standard, and hold EVERYONE to it.

I hope that on this day to honor and remember Dr. King, we will all take some time to at least contemplate these issues.  If we can make better decisions and start to make small changes in how we view each other, then we have hope in someday making Dr. King’s dream a reality.