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Page 4-The Maroon Tiger-February 13,1981
Many historians fail to
recognize several blacks who
were instrumental in the
development of America. In many
history books, the rde the black
man played in developing
America is written off as
unimportant, and thus many
worthy blacks are not recognized
for their notable deeds. The Rev.
Martin L. King J r. is one notable
black historians are going to find
difficult, if not impossible, to
forget about when writing about
the 1960s.
Even though thany blacks
remember King, if asked, “What
was his dream?” Some of us
might have a difficult time
remembering what it was, or be
ignorant of it altogether. If we
forget the dream of a man who is
recognize as one of the greatest
leaders in history, we do nothing
but set upon ourselves and our
former leader a grave injustice.
Since several of my classmates
find it necessary to blame ‘white
people’ for the fact that many
notable blacks are not recognize
in our history books, and also for
many of our current problems, I
find it necessary to remind them,
and others like them, of King’s
dream.
King dreamed that one day
we would be set free from the
manacles of segregation and the
chains of discrimination, that
sadly crippled our opportunity for
advancement. Today, even
though racial prejudice is still
present, its’ effects are not as
profound and not as evident as in
M.
By Rev. Paul Dillard
.... As one ponders the erudition
and astuteness of the theology of
Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., the need
to place emphasis cm the tenets of
his creative theological thought,
is not only necessary, but
essential. If we are to ever realize
the eradication of ills that plague
this society, we must consider,
together the dialetic of King’s
theology and its sources that
pushes us to contemplate the
context of its social implication
and the language inherent of that
same theology. Greater
significance must now be
accorded the alteration that has
occured in theological thought
based on the intervention of a
more sound and dimensional
doctrine, as outlined by Dr. King.
It would not be
unreasonable to suggest that a
course erf instruction centered
around the consideration of the
social dynamic of Martin King’s
theology, be conceptualized and
implemented and taught within
the structural confines of
institutions of higher learning
throughout the country.
Morehouse College, its
administrators and curriculum
developers, have been
lackadaisical and erroneous in
inadvertently,! am sure,
THE FORGOTTEN DREAM
the past. We can now experience
more economical and educational
opportunities than ever before in
history.
We are still affected by
segregation and discrimination.
The Klu Klux Klan is still present
in our society, and blacks make
up only one percent of total
elected officials in the U.S., but
constitue over 11.1 percent of the
population. Each advancement
we make is not without the chains
and manacles of those menaces
afforementioned, but with the
strength of brotherhood which
lessens their grip. We have come
a long way on the road of
freedom, but must realize there
are many miles we have yet to
walk until our journey is
completed.
Seventeen years ago King
said, “... their (white Americans)
destiny is tied up with our destiny
and their freedom is inextricably
bound to our freedom. We
cannot walk alone.” There is
much evidence to prove we have
not walked alone in our struggle
for equality and justice. Thurgood
Marshall was not appointed to the
Supreme Court by a black man.
Atlanta’s Mayor Jackson was not
elected by whites or blacks but by
both. During the next four years
one thing is certain, we have a
very turbulent road to walk. Let
us do so neither with friction nor
discordance with our white
bretheren.
Some of us forget that King -
asked not for us to become 5
alienated in our struggle, but to
forget King’s dream, but hold it
deep in our hearts.
walk hand and hand with our
white friends. He did not solicit
us to work among ourselves to
work out the solution to poor
education and economic
segregation, but to sit down
together with our white brethern
at the table of brotherhood.
In the decade ahead, we the
blacks among the young
generation, should become void
of narrowmindedness,
elements of racial prejudice. We
should be mindful that in gaining
our rightful place in society we
must not be guilty of wrongful
deeds. We should not seek to
satisfy our thirst for freedom by
drinking from the cup of
bitterness and hatred. It is not
difficult for us to help this world
become void of
However, as King asserted,
“when we let freedom ring, when
we let it ring from every village
and every hamlet, from every
state and every city, we will be
able to speed up that when all of
God’s children, black men, white
men, Jew and Gentiles,
Protestants and Catholics, will be
able to join hands and sing in the
old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last!
Free at last! Thank God almighty,
we are free at last!” “Let us not
narrowmindedness.If we just
view each other as individuals
and judge people by the content
of their character,
narrowmindedness will become a
thing of the past.
Many of us are so busy
speaking against ‘white people’
for the injustices inflicted upon
our race that we fail to see the
current problems in our own race.
It is very hypocritcal for us to
show someone a speck in their
eye when we have a board in our
own. Why should we critize
people for wrongs when we are
guilty of wrongs otir selves, and if
we critize, won’t we in the
process open ourselves to
criticism? If we attack someone
will they not, in defense, retaliate
against us? If we allow ourselves
to be narrowminded we only add
the flames of withering injustice.
L.King—Moving His Theology Ahead
diminishing the eminence of the
need to perpetuate and nurture
the “dream”, as well as
significantly continuing to
contribute to the even more
difficult struggle for equality.
Martin’s alma mater, “Dear Old
Morehouse,” has not, 13 years
after his death, offered course
instruction in the area of Martin
King’s life and mission.
Morehouse College standard
bearer for black institutions of
post-secondary education, has
failed its students, and the larger
intellectual community, by not
making provisions for the
conceptualization and
development of a course erf study
dealing primarily with the impact
of Dr. King’s theology and
position on the systematic
oppression of the disadvantaged
and underprivileged, as well as
the escalating subjection of
poverty and substandard
conditions and policies on our less
fortunate black brothers and
sisters.A white institution, alien
to the significance of Black
liberation theology , the social
dynamic of the gospel of Jesus
Christ and the development of a
concrete social agenda, has
already begun to offer courses in
the area erf the life and work of
M.L. King. Emory University,
located in the city of King’s birth
has again surpassed the prowess
of the institution that was
responsible for his initial
assumption erf his obligation to
battle the evils that afflicted his
people.
It is inexcusable that such a
course of study dealing
exclusively with Dr. King’s life
long dedication and leadership of
the civil rights movement not be
offered on the campus of the
leading black college in America.
Subsequently, Mrs. Coretta Scott
King, has been invited to instruct
students at a predominantly white
university on the tenets of an
agenda that still deals with the
problems that continue to plague
black society. If Morehouse is to
be a responsible progenitor erf
black intellectualism and
sensiitivity, then it is in a position
of gross error by not considering
with its students such a
significant topic. Consequently,
such a course offering should be
demanded not only at Dr. King’s
alma mater, by also in colleges
and universities throughout the
land inclusive of those seminaries
and schools of religion that
consider in depth the meaning of
the King theology. Morehouse
must, as it has done in the past,
continue to be the hallmark of
black intellectual development
and thought. And inconsideration
of that position a leader among
men , Morehouse must lead the
way towards the fulfillment of the
dream, by enlightening those who
seek to acquire knowledge and
who will someday direct the
ultimate destiny of our world.
And so, if there is to be total and
complete liberation, and
identification of divine justice
with civil justice, we must ponder
and consider, together, the
dynamics erf the theology of Dr.
M.L. King and at that point make
application erf those dimensions to
our Charge to Keep in the 80’s —
Eliminating Poverty, Racism, and
Violence through Non-violent
Social Change.
We must consider, brothers
and sisters, Dr. King’s
conceptual analysis of violence
vs.non-violence in light of
historical, sociological, and
psychological complexities of
black existence in a racist society.
We must consider, together, the
words of James Cone, author of
God of the Oppressed:“King’s
creative thought and power in the
struggle for freedom...brought
him face to face with agony and
despair, but also with joy and
hope...that justice would become
a reality ’in the land of the free
and the brave.’” We must
consider, together, Dr. King’s
creation of hope in the context of
injustice and oppression, and its
relationship to his creative
“activism and powerful
preaching.” We must consider,,
we must consider, the content of
King’s theology and the precision
of King’s vision, and realize
together that the fight is on, and
black existence is at stake. And
we as custodians of the dream
and leaders of tomorrow, must
hastily but carefully propel
ourselves into a spirit of
contemplation of what King’s
theology ultimately means to the
implementation cf our agenda.
Let us declare together:
I don’t
feel no ways tired
F ve come too far from where
I started from.
Nobody told me that the road
would
be easy
I don’t believe he brought me this
far
to leave me.
Let us march' on, my brothers,
until victory is won.