EDITORIAL
I have a dream...
The following is .in excerpt from Martin Luther
King Jr's speech in Washington. DC August 28. 1 963.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come
here out of great trials and tribulations Some of you
have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you
have come from areas where your quest for freedom
left you battered by the storms of persecution and stag
gered by the winds of police brutality. You have been
the veterans of creative struggle Continue to work with
the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go
back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to
Louisiana, go back to the slums and the ghettos of our
northern i dies, knowing that somehow this situation
can and will be changed Let us not wallow in the val
ley of despair.
! say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the
riitfii allies and frustrations of the moment 1 still have a
dream It is a dream deeply rooted in the American
dream
I have a dream that one day on the rod hills of
Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of for
mer slave owners will be able to sit down together at
the table of brotherhood.
1 have a dream that one day even the state of Mis
.ippi a desert state sweltering with the heat of injus
■ ce and oppression, vsdl be transformed into an oasis
iif freedom and ;usti< e
I have a dream that
:: , tn.ii little i hildren
will nee das live in a
r.aton \n );i• r<* thes will
not he judged bv the
( olor nf their •>kin but
bs the content of their
( haracter
I have a dream to
das
1 have a dream that
one das the state ot
Alabama, whose gover
iio; ■> bps are presently
dripping with the
words ot interposition
and nullification, svill
I have a dream that
one day on the red
hills of Georgia the
sons of former
slaves and the
sons of former
slave owners will
be able to sit down
together at the
table of
brotherhood.
Marlm Luther King Jr
or tmnsmrmtMi inio a
situation where little black boys and little black twirls
w,:l be able to join hands with little white boss and
w b te g;r!s and walk together as sisters and brothers
I nave a dream today
I haw a dream that one day every valley shall be
exalted, every lull and mountain shall he made low.
the rough places will be made plains, and the crooked
places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord
shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together
This is our hope. This is the faith with which 1 re
turn to the South With this faith we will he able to
hew out the mountains of despair a stone of hope. With
this faith yve will he able to transform the jangling dis
cords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of broth
erhood With this faith yve will be able to work togeth
er. to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand
up tor freedom together, knowing that we will be free
one dav
I tus will dc the (lay when ail ot uoo s cmiaren
will hr able to sing with new meaning "My country 'tis
of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where
im fathers died, land of the pilgrim’s pride, from every
mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must
come true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hill
tops of New Hampshire, lu-t freedom ring from the
mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from
the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsv Ivania!
Let freedom ring from the snow-capped Rockies of
Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of
California!
But not only that: let freedom ring from Stone
Mountain of Ceorgia!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of
Mississippi. From every mountainside let freedom
ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from
ever\ village and hamlet, from every city, we will be
able to speed up that day when all of God’s children,
black men and white men. Jews and Gentiles, Protes
tants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing
in the words of that old Negro spiritual "Free at last!
Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!"
. \ , \ >v \ J.
COMMENTARY
Blacks waking from the dream
R w oolly I hud ihr pleas
it n- u[ v it!w in)’ un ad
uumpuign ftx using mi the
Hill of Ki^iiN You u!mi might
have Isud ifiis opportunity ihi'
.id Iha! .slands mi! < leurlv in
muu! pn.lures Marlin Luther
king (r n frtml of the U ashing
!i>n Monument clriin'iiiii; Ills I
Hull A Dream spew li \exl In
tins jiii tur»* is tin' statement II
ii wasn't lor iho Bill id Rights
lias spew ll would have Oliver
happened
U lio an- vs' IrV mg to play as
a I.' lihu k Ann a n ao.s hav e
always understood the wisdom
! ire.Irak I)i -.glass who stal
l'd Ilia! pow i i i - mi i dvs noth
ii.g willn it demand Martin
Luther king was allowed to
, e :: ,s sj;i is ll -it the \V,l Iiltlg
tiin Monument hot .iiisn of the
i S governments Iear of
[I.ys using norm lulent I n lu s
to shut down lln' Million's capi
tal j! or a further analysis, read
Male .dm is s spri t ll Message
to the (Ir ass He mis. New I'M. I)
Neither the Hi 1 i ol Kights nor
the (lonstituiion has ever Iieen
piotei torales ol the Black peo
pie Indore or after the liman
ripalion l’rndamatmn ll did
not protei.t Marcus l ,arve v.
leader ol the largest Black or
gani/.aiion in I S history in
I "JJO. nor tla Black Panthers
who Us anie the vutiinsof the
l! s go-, eminent s m nv mhi
minis (luunter Intelligence I’ro
gran. (iOlNTl.LJ’KO in the late
i'HiUs And certainly the Bill of
Kights did not protect Kodney
Kmg !r. m enduring tii• • mother
of all heatings from !.o-- Angeles
pi ii. i- on the c itv streets While
A me; u a is s, i full of c on trad ic •
lions between what it says and
does It IS almost sc hl/.ophre
nu
After nearly ii() years of lie
mg lulled to sleep In a dream
While Americans never intend
ed to allow, lilac ks arc- aw aken
ing lo the reality that nothing
lias i hanged live ept lor a few
: s- ns s ..tiered around for
good measure, the majority ol
II a ks are s'dl suffering from
the mentu- and physic al abuses
ot white: upremaiv better
After nearly 30
years of being
lulled to sleep by a
dream White
Americans never
intended to allow,
Blacks are
awakening to the
reality that nothing
has changed.
k!: the l Oiled Males ol
America
CJ-..I slum; Why .ire Black
men iimfc ili,in :it) percent of
;in jiriin popu latino when
tiny i emprise less limn five
peri ent ol the tola) population
;.! llle i ruled SI.lies' It seems
:!...i any vs.i\ (Hack people turn
gel hurried We are over
represented in mortal!!) rates,
homelessness, prisons and
gangs tnd underrepresented in
managerial positions, schools
and every other sector of socle
11 Oh, except in sports, which
has l>ei nine the modern planta
tion system ol the Western
U; aid
And of course, it is Ok for
us to sing and dance about love
oi ■ .en about Blacks killing
Ilia, e hill let a Blai k artist tell
the truth about our i urrent situ
ation and all of a sudden the
media portray them as "racist"
and violent, daring to scream
reverse racism" in a society
that has created and perfected
the system.itii destruction of
Itlai k peoples
Why is it that Whites seem
to he so shoe ked that race rela
tions are becoming more and
more confrontational? They
have always been tfiat was The
only difference is tfiat Blacks
and other people of color are
no longer the only victims In
creasingly. Whites are the re
i ipients of racial abuse from
people of color White Ameri
cans have always been unpre
pared to understand the society
tliut they continue to perpetu
ate
At thi! University ol Oregon.
Black students have realized
that tins University, like the
larger sue ietv, < annul separate
its illusion id racial diversity
with the reality ol institutional
White Supremui For exam
ple, while the administration
c laims to he increasing the tra
ditional US minority student
population the reality is that,
while peri entages sound gre.it,
whole numbers are far from im
pressive
We .is liliu k students i .m no
longer mi by idly and allow ibis
sm lety lo dictate who will br
chosen lor our leaders and
what uur direction vs ill lie
We rei ogni/e that ibis is a
divided society of privileges
based on the color of one's
skin
W e also understand that an
American Impress gold card or
a college degree w ill not protect
Bhu k people from a society
that lives in an illusion ol
etjualltv and juste e lor all
We did not come here to ed
ucate white society about
White Supremacy Black stu
dents are learning that White
sik letv is not one we want to
emulate It is your problem, not
ours We did not invent it Un
fortunately. it is the Black com
munity who is on the rei eiving
end of your disease.
One last thing Please re
member that we do not have
time for your guilt We under
stand that you were not here
when this system was set up
So why would an intelligent
person feel guilty' What one
should feel is a responsibility
fur the fat t that ra< ism contin
ues to persist in the age that
you live in. and that by your
complacent v, you benefit from
the system of institutional
White Supremacy As Audre
Lordu says. "Guilt is another
excuse for inaction "
This essay was written bv
University student Eric Wurd
on tx'half of the lilnik Student
Union.