Recognizing a Man or a Turning Point

Tomorrow, January 15, 2007, we recognize oneAfrican Americans, or was it to reinforce the
of this country's greatest advocates to civil rights,attitude of the 1957 version of the Civil Rights
a man who courageously stood firm for the rightsAct, "Equal but Separate?"
of African Americans during a time when almostWe made an awful mistake during our early
no one was willing to allow the African Americanhistory, and the world has made many of these
equality, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.types of mistakes during its struggle to become a
We celebrate the day as Martin Luther King Jr.civilized society. I believe it is time we truly grant
Day, the only holiday this country has using theequality to the races. It has been almost 50 years
name of an American Citizen. At one time wesince the Civil Rights Act was passed and almost
celebrated Lincoln's Birthday and Washington's140 years since slavery was legal in this country.
Birthday, but those holidays have transformedIt is time we come together, once and for all, put
into Presidents Day in recognition of all of ouraside our mistakes of the past, allow this wound
Presidents.to heal, and move forward as a united country.
The other day, a friend of the family who is 9Regarding MLK Day, my friend was right, why do
years old, asked me a very provocative andwe have a Martin Luther King Day and no John F.
thoughtful question, a question generated fromKennedy Day? After all, there were many
the innocence of a child. She asked, "Why do wesignificant people who were contributors to the
have a Martin Luther King Day but not a John F.passing and subsequent strengthening of the Civil
Kennedy Day?" I probed a little before IRights Act, including Rosa Parks, Malcolm X,
answered the question to try and understandStokely Carmichael, Linda Brown and her father
what she was really asking. It turns out that sheOliver, who challenged segregation in the public
did not understand the reason there were eventsschools (Brown v. the Board of Education), James
and days that were specifically focused on theMeredith (University of Mississippi), and many
African American population.other courageous Americans, some whose names
Of course, I tried to explain that Africanwe will never hear. They all were willing to make
Americans in this country were severelytremendous sacrifices in order to propel our
suppressed for many years, and it was during anation out of this nightmare. They too should be
difficult period of our country's history that onerecognized for their efforts.
man, Dr. Martin Luther King, stood firm underPerhaps it would be a major step forward if we
extreme adversity to bring respect, pride, andchanged the name of Martin Luther King Day as
equality to this segment of our population. Evenwe did with Washington's Birthday and Lincoln's
while I attempted to articulate the reason for aBirthday, to Civil Rights Day, or some other name
day named for an African American, I began towhich we can use to acknowledge all of the great
ask some of my own questions.Americans who contributed to the goal of equality
Why do we continue to separate the Africanfor everyone.
American from the rest of the nationalities in thisTo quote the venerated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
country? We have a Miss Black America Pageant,during his infamous March on Washington, "I have
Black Entertainment Television, etc. I understanda dream that one day this nation will rise up and
that every nationality wants, and needs, to belive out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold
recognized, and we should all be proud of ourthese truths to be self evident that all men are
heritage. That is not in question here, but thesecreated equal.'" I believe that if we truly want to
types of events go beyond pride and seem toreach this goal and become a nation united and
define equality as something that is stillequal as Dr. King's dream portrayed, we need to
segregated from all others. Was it not the goal ofstop segregating our races and come together
the Civil Rights movement to garner parity forunder one name, Americans.