Martin Luther King, Jr., a leader in the African American Civil Rights Movement, has inspired countless people with his famous "I Have A Dream" speech and his commitment to nonviolence while combatting racial inequality. MLK Day is so much more than just a day of no classes or a day off from work; it is a day to reflect on the ways in which we can improve the state of racial equality in our society.
After all, the best way to commemorate the life of such a notable, virtuous leader is to work toward carrying out the vision that he himself had for our country and our world at large. "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," he said. The U.S. has come a long way since then, but we certainly still have a long way to go:
1. Lindsey Cook, a reporter for U.S. News & World Report, proves that "[m]ore than 60 years after Brown vs. Board of Education, school systems in the United States are separate and unequal."
Cook states that "[b]lack students are more likely to be held back [in school], despite mounting research showing that holding back children doesn’t benefit them socially or academically and makes them more likely to drop out later on."
2. Black Americans are more than twice as likely to be unarmed during encounters with the police as white Americans, according to a 2015 investigation carried out by The Guardian.
Police brutality is on the rise, and young, unarmed black men are targeted at a disproportionate rate. 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. of Ferguson, Missouri has been one of many.
3. For the second consecutive year, no actors of color were nominated for an Oscar.
Remember when #OscarSoWhite trended last year? Well, the hashtag is being brought back this year because of the lack of diversity (again) in the Academy Award nominations.
4. Some people claim that "reverse racism" is actually a thing.
No, it is not. Racism is a system of advantage based on race. In our society, white people have always been advantaged, whereas people of color have been treated as second class citizens--or worse. White privilege is real; "reverse racism" is not. (This message from Aamer Rahman is super helpful for those of you who are still not convinced.)
5. Some people believe that racism no longer exists because we have a black president.
Keep in mind that Barack Obama is the first non-white president our country has ever had. That means that he worked incredibly hard to earn the position he now holds, and somehow, he managed to overcome the odds stacked against him in a country that routinely criminalizes black men for merely existing.
6. Earning a college degree does not guarantee financial security; this is especially true if you are black or Hispanic.
According to Patricia Cohen, a reporter for The New York Times, "[i]n contrast to white and Asian households, the net worth of college-educated black and Hispanic families fell significantly between 1992 and 2013, while their debt hit high levels even before the financial crisis."
7. The phrase "all lives matter" has been used by politicians (and about half of our Facebook friends) in an attempt to minimize the Black Live Matter movement.
8. Racial diversity in characters is uncommon in children's books.
With such books -- which are not accurate representations of the diverse country we live in -- we are teaching children that the lives and experiences of white people are more important than those of people of color; we are conditioning children to think of people of color as being "other" and "lesser than" because if they are not represented in books, it must be because they are not worthy enough.
9. It was not until July 2015, after the Charleston shooting carried out by a white man in a historic black church, that South Carolina's State House confederate flag was taken down.
10. A man who perpetuates racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia is leading in the Republican presidential race.
"But you have people coming in, and I'm not just saying Mexicans; I'm talking about people from all over that are killers and rapists and they're coming into this country." (He really did say that. Watch the video here.)
