Do you have a dream one day?
I was raised in Georgia with a family that went to church, was always told that everything came from God, and who clearly had some traces of racism. This racism put some fear in me, as a child, that people of a different color were trouble. As I got older and started to push back on this thinking, I got to a point where if I met someone of a different color and fell in love with them, I would marry them. This was a type of rebellious thought toward my parents. I even told my parents this and they told me that if I did this they would die and roll over in their grave.
During my childhood, I lived in this type of lifestyle. People were called very bad things and I was blind to why this happened. Whenever I hung out with someone different at school, there never seemed to be an issue. But the way things sounded at home, I thought something was wrong with them.
When I started my first real job, I had a manager that was African American. He and I became really good friends. In this job, I was able to talk with him about everything. He was old enough to be my dad, so he gave me a lot of his thoughts and wisdom. The cool thing that happened was that the differnence in our skin color was not even apparent to either one of us. In fact, we were talking one day and I was looking at him in shock. He asked me what was wrong and I told him he was being a racist based on what he said. He said back to me: “You are Damn right!” I was shocked! We laughed it off, but I realized something that I think Martin Luther King Jr. was telling us or at least what I got out of it.
Racism didn’t just come from a white family in Georgia but it is EVERYWHERE! As I have grown older and have traveled the world, I have seen that the issue of racism is much worse in other places than in Georgia. People are still dying today because of it!
“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.” Martin Luther King Jr.
And this speech goes on. But I really believe this first part is key. As it states in God’s word:
19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. 20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. 21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:19-23 (NIV)
No one is righteous in God’s sight and our mouths may be silenced by the law. All men are equal! No one is different except for the redemption that we get from our faith in Jesus Christ. Even Jesus looked at everyone as the same. From the woman at the well to the man that carried His cross. No matter the race, creed, or religion, He came for us.
I pray that Martin Luther King Jr.’s speech was not just for America, but rather for everyone on earth. I also pray that everyone tries to stop looking at themselves as being something better than others and that they start humbling themselves before God.
Are you a racist? When I ask this question, do you only think of skin color? Being a racist is also about how people live their lives. Do you not want equality but rather get revenge? Are you willing to lower yourself to anyone in the name of Jesus Christ?
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