What I dream of in my heart and soul
Posted: Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:29 pm
The election is a big deal with me. I mean really big, like lifetime aspiration big.
Tonight I sit and watch history, not out of hate but out of the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
When I heard Obama in Iowa many months ago, I heard John Kennedy in his voice and delivery. I haven't heard any politician that inspirational in 40 years. I heard Bobby Kennedy speak for the poor. And I heard a dream of equality that Martin Luther King presented so many years ago. We are very near in age. I remember the hatred of "niggers" and "kikes" and "dagoes" and "spic"... I remember the hatred of prejudice. And I lived to see those words dropped from the daily vocabulary.
Remember this: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I have never seen color of skin as important. My parents never did. Neither did my teachers. I went to a parochial school. There are many ills that some recall and blame on a Catholic Education. The Nuns were capable of many stupid things, but they didn't teach racism. They taught compassion and love. I placed the dream of MLK deep in my heart.
Remember this: "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 a table of brotherhood."
I'm a scientist and I dreamed of moon walks. I dream of robots on Mars of telescopes so powerful they turn back the hands of time itself. I was one of the last classes to see the "nuclear threat" movies. One of the last classes to hear teacher instruct children to hide under their desks. And yet, I lived to see the Berlin wall tumble. I lived to see communism fail. I lived to see the start of the third millennium.
And tonight, election eve... I no longer have to dream King's dream of a man being judged by his character and not the color of his skin, tonight we live it. Tomorrow is a dream come true. A new world. It is truly the dawn of a new age. The original sin of slavery can be purged from the USA.
Remember this: We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal...
What began in 1776 is come of age in the year 2008. What troubled us the 1950's and 1960's has come of age at the turn of the century. History will no longer be denied. WE - you and I have done this thing and we should be proud.
Our children and our grandchildren, will see even less distinction between the races, the great-grandchildren see even less. Notice how Jesse Jackson is being left behind? He's the older generation. The youngsters do not have his institutional bias. They have educations, their kids will have educations and they will never again see race, or gender, or religion as a divider.
There's always the quote from Plato (I think it's Plato) about disrespectful, irresponsible and irresolute kids. Well I don't believe that. I think it shameful to abuse your children that way. The next generation is always different, always rebellious, always outrageous and then they have kids and they learn too late the lessons of life. But would you rob them of childhood, and discovery? Would you give them despair instead of hope? Age instead of youth? Teach them goodness and send them out into the world better than you found it and hopefully better than you left it.
Once upon a a time, a long, long time ago, I believed that all men could be judged by their deeds and not by the color of their skin. I was young and naive but I did believe. Dreams rarely come true but I have lived to see a nation make this dream come true.
Now, I dream of a day when all men are fed, all men are educated, all men have meaningful lives, health care and we are work for the betterment of mankind. And for the world, because I now know that equality is possible in this nation, that it is possible everywhere, and tonight, I dream of a world without war. One of my few biblical moments - "they shall beat their sword into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks and nation shall not take arms against nation, neither shall they make war anymore." The Dream of Isaiah.
And that is what today, November 4, 2008 is all about - dreams.
Tonight I sit and watch history, not out of hate but out of the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
When I heard Obama in Iowa many months ago, I heard John Kennedy in his voice and delivery. I haven't heard any politician that inspirational in 40 years. I heard Bobby Kennedy speak for the poor. And I heard a dream of equality that Martin Luther King presented so many years ago. We are very near in age. I remember the hatred of "niggers" and "kikes" and "dagoes" and "spic"... I remember the hatred of prejudice. And I lived to see those words dropped from the daily vocabulary.
Remember this: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
I have never seen color of skin as important. My parents never did. Neither did my teachers. I went to a parochial school. There are many ills that some recall and blame on a Catholic Education. The Nuns were capable of many stupid things, but they didn't teach racism. They taught compassion and love. I placed the dream of MLK deep in my heart.
Remember this: "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 a table of brotherhood."
I'm a scientist and I dreamed of moon walks. I dream of robots on Mars of telescopes so powerful they turn back the hands of time itself. I was one of the last classes to see the "nuclear threat" movies. One of the last classes to hear teacher instruct children to hide under their desks. And yet, I lived to see the Berlin wall tumble. I lived to see communism fail. I lived to see the start of the third millennium.
And tonight, election eve... I no longer have to dream King's dream of a man being judged by his character and not the color of his skin, tonight we live it. Tomorrow is a dream come true. A new world. It is truly the dawn of a new age. The original sin of slavery can be purged from the USA.
Remember this: We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal...
What began in 1776 is come of age in the year 2008. What troubled us the 1950's and 1960's has come of age at the turn of the century. History will no longer be denied. WE - you and I have done this thing and we should be proud.
Our children and our grandchildren, will see even less distinction between the races, the great-grandchildren see even less. Notice how Jesse Jackson is being left behind? He's the older generation. The youngsters do not have his institutional bias. They have educations, their kids will have educations and they will never again see race, or gender, or religion as a divider.
There's always the quote from Plato (I think it's Plato) about disrespectful, irresponsible and irresolute kids. Well I don't believe that. I think it shameful to abuse your children that way. The next generation is always different, always rebellious, always outrageous and then they have kids and they learn too late the lessons of life. But would you rob them of childhood, and discovery? Would you give them despair instead of hope? Age instead of youth? Teach them goodness and send them out into the world better than you found it and hopefully better than you left it.
Once upon a a time, a long, long time ago, I believed that all men could be judged by their deeds and not by the color of their skin. I was young and naive but I did believe. Dreams rarely come true but I have lived to see a nation make this dream come true.
Now, I dream of a day when all men are fed, all men are educated, all men have meaningful lives, health care and we are work for the betterment of mankind. And for the world, because I now know that equality is possible in this nation, that it is possible everywhere, and tonight, I dream of a world without war. One of my few biblical moments - "they shall beat their sword into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks and nation shall not take arms against nation, neither shall they make war anymore." The Dream of Isaiah.
And that is what today, November 4, 2008 is all about - dreams.