To Catch a Dream

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Floyd Ogle
Instructor: Katherine Lutrell
English 1A
11 September 2008
To Catch a Dream
On August 28, 1963 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., possibly one of the most eloquent, and
certainly one of the most passionate men to ever share his heart, delivered a stunning and earth
shaping speech. He delivered this speech not only to over 200,000 people in attendance at the
Lincoln Memorial, and not even to a nation struggling with the perils of racism and equality, but to
generations of people who share in a dream and strive for freedom; a dream that many still dream
today. Even though we are closer now than at any point in history, we have yet to experience the
freedom of which Dr. King dreamed.
Racism is not a problem only in America, most every nation deals with racial issues on some
level. Though none of us could ever forget the tragedy of the Holocaust, we tend to forget that it
was racially motivated. Hitler’s goal was to exterminate the Jewish people. “Anne Frank was
murdered by the Nazis in Bergen-Belsen [concentration camp] for being a Jew, just one of over one
million Jewish children to be killed in the Holocaust” (Melchior). The Holocaust, while the most
prominent, is not the only example of ethnic cleansing that the world offers. Darfur, the Sudan,
Croatia, and Kosovo, just to name a few, have all dealt with this racial horror. South Africa, as well,
deals with racism. As the political power shifts toward black South Africans, white South Africans
face continual racial violence (Russell). By taking a broad look, it would appear that even though

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America is a relatively young nation, we have greatly overcome racism when compared to the
majority of the world.
Though it has been nearly 150 years since President Lincoln delivered the Emancipation
Proclamation, a black man is still not free in America. Certainly, no longer bound with the chains of
slavery, but he is still weighed down with the chains of oppression. It is hard to imagine, that in the
greatest nation on earth, racism would ever become a significant part of American history. The
Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created
equal,” yet less than 100 years after these words were penned America was caught in the perils of
the Civil War, a war based primarily on the practice of slavery. Even an entire century later, the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 would not eliminate racial prejudice, even from the law.
Somewhere in American history, the lines between the law and vigilante justice became
very blurred. Unfortunately, many archaic “Jim Crow Laws” remain on the books in many states
today. For instance, in Florida it was illegal for two people of different races to swim together; and
until 2006 in Alabama, it was a crime to marry a person of a different race (Hutchinson). Obviously,
no one is enforcing these laws, but still they exist. Not that a law was a necessary component for a
vigilantly to punish a black man that was being “unruly”, all that was needed for a lynching to
transpire was the opportunity. In fact, in 1998 three men drug James Byrd Jr. behind a pick-up truck
until he died in what appears to be a modern day lynching. Moreover, even though it is not legal
practice, we are aware that racial profiling happens regularly. To make a judgment about someone
based on his or her ethnicity is the very heart of racism; however, there is little doubt that racial
profiling may be unavoidable in today’s America.
Every ethnic group has radicals, those with extreme political views and unconventional and
typically violent ways of expressing such views. The Ku Klux Klan, the Arian Brotherhood, and the

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Black Panthers just to name a few of the more organized, historic, groups. In recent history the
Muslims Extremists have become the most predominate and fear invoking group in existence. The
fact that they seem to have no fear of death and no regard for human life makes this group
especially scary! Michelle Malkin, a nationally syndicated columnist, says, “When our national
security is on the line, ‘racial profiling’—or more precisely, threat profiling based on race, religion
or nationality—is justified. Targeted intelligence-gathering at mosques and in local Muslim
communities, for example, makes perfect sense when we are at war with Islamic extremists.” Many
agree with Malkin, if profiling can direct us to those radical groups that intend to do harm, then
profiling may be a necessary evil. The sad truth is that as long as there are extremists, there will be
racial profiling, legal or not.
Racial profiling has scarred American history with embarrassment. The imprisonment of
Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor will forever be a blemish on the face of this
country. The Watts riots, Mississippi burning and countless other racially motivated acts of mass
violence spot our history with moments that we would much rather forget. Nevertheless, forget we
cannot. The names Rodney King and Reginald Denny remind us of what could possibly be the most
embarrassing moment in recent American history. In 1992, multiple members of the Los Angeles
Police Department beat Rodney King severely. When several of the officers involved in the beating
were acquitted of the charges, riots broke out in the streets of Los Angeles. Reginald Denny was a
truck driver in the wrong place at the wrong time (Whitman). A group of men dragged Denny from
his truck and beat him unmercifully; Denny suffers lasting effects due to the brutality of the beating.
Apparently, to some, the punishment on a society that allows an innocent black man to be beaten is
for an innocent white man to be beaten. Unfortunately, the trend continues, on any given day in
America an untold number of hate crimes occur. Even situations that do not begin as racial issues

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can quickly turn if one of the parties involved feels that they can benefit by bringing to mind the
fear that the race wars evoke. Each racially motivated incident is completely justified in the mind of
the perpetrator; it is easy to justify “defending” yourself against that which scares you.
Certainly, many surface issues relate to racism; racial slurs, prejudice and bigotry are among
the apparent causes of racism, however, each of these things are effects of racism, not the cause.
Many things can influence racial tensions, the greatest of which may be fear. Fear will cause a
person to do things that are far outside of their normal character, and it is undoubtedly fear that
drives the majority of racial issues. On April 4, 1968, a single gunshot took the life of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr.; Dr. King’s death caused racial tensions to escalate to new heights. With fear struck
in the hearts of generations of African-Americans, riots broke out and a completely new level of
unrest occurred. The same thing that caused the death of the beloved leader of the Civil Rights
Movement, fear, caused this unrest. Often times, the things that scare us the most are things that we
do not understand. Some say that ignorance is bliss; however, I say that ignorance causes this.
Thankfully, we grow in knowledge every day, and as a result, America has taken great strides
towards achieving the dream.
As evidence of how far we have come, on the forty-fifth anniversary of Dr. King’s historic
speech, the first African-American candidate accepted the nomination of a major political party for
President of the United States of America. Senator Barak Obama delivered a historic speech four
and a half decades after Dr. King expressed his dream, a dream that, at that moment Senator Obama
was realizing, even if he was alone in this realization. The Democratic Party has nominated,
arguably, the most qualified candidate for the Presidency, who happens to be black. His party has
indeed judged him not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character (King 909).

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Dr. King lived, and ultimately gave, his life in the pursuit of a dream. It is captivating, that at
such a young age, Dr. King was able to convey with such enormous conviction his vision of
freedom, a vision that not only included black men, but true equality for every individual without
regard to race or gender. His passion has undoubtedly brought equality closer to reality. As we grow
closer to achieving Dr. King’s dream of freedom, we move further away from the horrors of our
past. While this growth provides hope of a future filled with promise, we are not certain that
America will ever be devoid of racism. It may always remain a struggle; however, as long as we
struggle, we are less likely to repeat the atrocities of our past, a past that no rational American
would ever want to relive. Therefore, struggle we will, because not every man is equal here in
America. A quick walk through history will prove to us that we are closer now than ever before, and
while we are striving, we have not yet achieved the dream of true equality. Dr. King’s dream was
not one that would bring us close to equality, but rather one that would give every man true equal
rights. Various Civil Rights acts and referendums such as affirmative action may have brought an
end to segregation and created equal opportunity employment; still it has not shielded the black man
from all racism. Prayerfully, we have reached an end of overt racism; however, what about the
subtle forms? What about when a black man enters a room full of white people and everyone stares;
or, when the women clinches her purse a little tighter when in the presence of African-Americans?
We are not free, nor have we achieved the dream. We will be free not when we achieve equal rights
for every race; but rather, when we cease to recognize race entirely!
Works Cited
Hutchinson, Earl. “Jim Crow Laws Still on Many State's Books.” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
earl-ofari-hutchinson/jim-crow-laws-still-on-ma_b_28411.html.

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King, Martin Luther. “I Have a Dream.” The Norton Reader: An Anthology of Nonfiction. Twelfth
Edition. Ed. Linda Peterson, Ed. John Brereton. New York: W. W. Norton & Company,
2008. 907-10.
Malkin, Michelle. "Racial Profiling of Muslims Is Justified to Prevent Terrorism." Opposing
Viewpoints: Discrimination. Ed. Jacqueline Langwith. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007.
Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Fresno City College. 6 Sep. 2008.
Melchior, Michael. "Denying Jews the Right to a Homeland Is Anti-Semitic." At Issue: Anti-
Semitism. Ed. Mark McKain. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints
Resource Center. Gale. Fresno City College. 6 Sep. 2008.
Russell, Alec. "Prejudice Against Whites Is a Problem in South Africa." Opposing Viewpoints:
Africa. Ed. Laura K. Egendorf. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. Opposing Viewpoints
Resource Center. Gale. Fresno City College. 6 Sep. 2008.
Whitman, David. "The untold story of the LA riot. (Cover story)." U.S. News & World Report
114.21 (31 May 1993): 34. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO.Fresno City College. 9 Sep.
2008 <http://search.ebscohost.com/ login.aspx?
direct=true&db=aph&AN=9305250167&site=ehost-live>.

To Catch a Dream

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