What would Dr. King say today?
The Catalyst / Photo courtesy of @NDBTigers
NDB celebrates Black History Month with educational activities for the community.
Martin Luther King Day is a day for people to reflect on the Civil Rights Movement and one of its most important leaders. With all the recents events surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement and seeking justice for communities of color, one big question has been floating around: Would MLK be proud of where we are now? This question definitely does not have an easy answer. Racial injustice in the world and the systemic racism that exists in our country is so complex and has so many layers.
Some people might say he would be proud, given all the progress that has occurred in modern society since Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination. People of color were given so many more opportunities and freedoms. Racism, though it is still prominent in modern day society, is less normalized. People of color are also seen more in movies, TV shows, on the runway and even in politics. Kamala Harris, the current Vice President of the United States, is the first African American and American Asian Vice President.
“We have grown so much as a community and have been able to recognize people’s unconscious biases and try to prevent them,” said NDB junior Bella Topalian.
However, all of these great achievements should not blind people from all of the bad things. There are still so many people who have lost their lives due to racism and police brutality, even in recent years. People cannot forget names like Oscar Grant, Eric Garner, George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and Elijah McClain. There is also still so much racism in today’s society. Black people still have not received a single cent of what they were
promised in reparations. “I feel like Martin Luther King might not like some aspects of today’s society due to the current hyper fixation of politicizing everything whether or not it involves politics,” noted junior Kendall Duffy. So, to conclude, the answer to this question is very complicated. Although we have made progress, we must continue to fight for racial equality.
