His dream still rings true, but, oddly enough, the day we take to celebrate it appears to undermine Martin Luther King Jr.’s vision.
We’re all for having another day away from the paper, but getting a day off school and work in honor of a man who fought for equality in both the classroom and office seems a little strange.
There are some appropriate ways to celebrate, of course. For one, some people use the extra time to volunteer and better their communities, which perfectly ties in with the preacher’s hopes. The local news sometimes uses the day to spotlight changes for the better in inner-city areas, showing that the dream still lives wherever there is hope and effort.
Some people would ask why we don’t pay attention to these issues more often. We say it’s the attention that warrants keeping the holiday around. We’re for acknowledging King’s legacy; we’re just not so sure about ditching school for it. After all, sitting in an integrated classroom, learning material just as unsatisfactorily (c’mon, this is Florida, after all) as the students the next school over is one of the best manifestations of the changes the country’s undergone since the civil rights movement.
Rather than wasting the day away, as many of us did, maybe it’s time to go about our usual business imagining how extraordinary the 1960s activists would think our 21st-century routine is.
