The civil rights activist gave a major speech 60 years ago. His dream of a better world has not come to pass. One might even get the impression that it has gotten worse.
It is said that dreams are but shadows. The truth of this with respect to the dreams that American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. strikingly formulated 60 years ago belongs to the great political tragedies of recent decades.
It may well be that it will never be possible to eradicate racism anywhere entirely. However, for some time now in the United States one might get the very definite impression that the scourge of racism has gotten worse. Not only do people continue to prejudge others solely on the basis of skin color, but aggression by white individuals against people of color has reached a level that calls for countermeasures.
Nobody Expects Any Consequences
If people are killed again because they have the “wrong” skin color as in this weekend’s Florida shooting, all halfway serious political discourse can agree that this is disgusting. But unfortunately, we can’t assume that even a single act like this will have political or legislative consequences.
People also kill with knives and everyday objects; we know this all too well in our country. However, free access to guns facilitates the perpetrators’ bloody business. Not even King dared to dream of putting a stop to it.
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