We March Again

While the dream remains unfulfilled, that dream remains alive and well.

Fifty years ago, more than a quarter of a million people – people of all colors, all creeds, and of all religions – marched on Washington. They weren't seeking just equality, government's repudiation of intolerance; they sought basic dignity, for our nation to meet its creed that we are all endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 

In the shadow of Lincoln, great men and women cemented legacies as giants in the civil rights movement and American history – John Lewis, Harry Bellefonte, Daisy Bates, and of course, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. There, overlooking the National Mall, spoke, prayed, and called for action.

Fifty years later, again, another march begins, yet the dream is still the same – the dream our children won't have to march themselves.  

In the 50 years since Dr. King dreamed his dream, our nation has made strides. Poll taxes are a relic of an America we must not forget. Biased restrictions on marriage, with Loving vs. Virginia and United States vs. Windsor, are approaching extinction. And in 2008 and 2012, the nation saw no reason why the son of a Kenyan immigrant and Kansas farm girl couldn't be President of the United States.

Yet the progress dreamed by Dr. King is not yet complete. Too often, unfortunately, that necessary progress is hindered by those fighting for the status quo. These enemies of progress and change, seeking to suppress turnout for their own partisan benefit – they claim to represent the real America. History however, has taught us not to blindly believe what we see, not to indiscriminately adhere to what we are told. The idea that they represent the real America is myth, a tall tale that grows larger and more fantastic with each retelling. The real America has no bias – the real America is neither urban or rural, black or white, or religious or indifferent. The real America is one of tolerance, united by a love of this great country. The real America has no litmus test on ideas, unwilling to dismiss any suggestion or plan merely because it isn't our own.

In Rockland too, the dream remains unfulfilled. Self-segregation, failing schools, and a growing gap between the haves and have not's divide our community. Rhetoric is charged, words like 'us' and 'them' populating the public discourse and debate.

Much work remains to fulfill Dr. King's dream. Opportunity is the key – a quality education offered irrespective of whom you are or where you live, jobs that offer more than minimum wage and minimum hope, and equal access to the ballot box. While those seeking more of the same would have us believe our divisions are permanent, our hearts know otherwise. We can learn from each other only if we stop shouting at one another.

Instead of accepting the status quo as inevitable, we march again. Dreaming of a world where the character of our children and their children guides their destiny, we march again. Believing that the arc of the moral universe does bend towards justice, we march again.  In the shadow of Lincoln, in the footsteps of great men and women of a generation not forgotten, we march again.