On This Day In History: 1963

“We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal”.

It was 50 years ago today that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his infamous “I have a dream” speech in Washington, DC. On August 28, 1963, at the height of the civil rights movement in American, he spoke to 250,000 activists who were collectively calling for an end to racism.

Incidentally, I also caught the new film The Butler at the theatre over the weekend (I highly recommend it to everyone. It’s an excellent film). So the past few days or so, I guess I’ve been thinking about the measure to which we’ve overcome racism in 2013.

I was not born when Dr. King made his speech but on a daily basis we continue to read reports of the denial of fundamental human rights around the world. There are women denied basic rights like education because of cultural beliefs regarding the inferiority of women. There are worse cases where women are killed or burned with acid by their husbands who are not held accountable for their crime.  International human rights organizations report that human traffic and slavery continue to exist today.I remember the attempted genocide in Rwanda and the terrible war in Bosnia. In recent weeks, we’ve seen Syria use chemical weapons on its own people.

When leaving the theatre after the movie, I could hear people discussing the film, exclaiming "I'm glad times have changed and things aren't like that anymore".

I disagree. I don't think that humans or our social systems have advanced as much as we’d hoped when Dr. King gave his speech. Our capacity to harm one another is alive and well and exercised globally on a regular basis.

In Canada, we are lucky. I believe we have more freedom than the vast major of people who live on this planet. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees us the fundamental freedom of conscience and religion; freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression. Every Canadian has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived of these rights except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

And yet racism continues to exist in Canada. So does intolerance. The main difference between 1963 and today is that society will generally not tolerate willful acts of hate or outright racism. In 1963, racists had little to fear in making their warped beliefs known.

I believe that racism and prejudice now percolate just under the surface of our societies.  It’s just better hidden. It is no longer shouted, but whispered. Almost inaudible, but it’s there.

I don’t usually like blogging this kind of thing and it’s impossible to make light of this issue. But it is the 50th anniversary of Dr. King's excellent speech. 

As Charles Dickens once wrote, mankind is my business. This continued business makes me sad for us all.  

Ok. I’m done.