Martin Luther King Day should be more than just another Monday which we are able to off from work and school. In fact, it is a memorial to the greatest figure in the Civil Rights Movement, and to all African-Americans, it is a monument to freedom in modern America. Well, maybe not for all African-Americans.
Lets take the the case of Westside High School in Omaha, Nebraska. Each year on MLK day, Westside bestows its "Distinguished African-American Student Award" on some student of "African American heritage" who has some how stood out for their accomplishments in the past year. This particular year, a portion of the student body campaigned to have the honor bestowed upon one Trevor Richards. Mr. Richards is indeed an African-American, having been born of African parents and emigrated with them from South Africa.
One would think that an award for "African-American students" would allow all African-American students to be eligible, it was decided among the school's administrators that Mr. Richards was not "black enough." In fact, he is pale skinned, almost to the point of being transparent. There is an obvious classification based on color with this decision.
This becomes more absurd when you take Dr. King's most famous speech, "I Have a Dream," and apply it to the situation in Omaha. In that speech, Dr. King said that he hoped for a time when his children would be judged not "by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Any sane person knows that skin tone does not define a person, and it is not hard to see that skin tone cannot define nationality or continental origin. This has long been a point of argument by the likes of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and other "black" leadership but seems to be unable to be applied in real life. It is irrational to assume that an American with dark skin tone must be from Africa.
Clearly this works both ways. Indeed, one may be an African American with light skin but this physiology flies in the face of modern day political correctness and the power brokers of it. Futhermore, consider that at this moment there are a number of Black Irish who have never and may never SEE Africa or even ...identify as African. they are not "oppressed" ...They are simply irish and...their concession to their skin color is that they add the word "Black"
Although not consistent with the title of the award for "African-American" students, the administration of Westside High gave in to the vacuous morality of political correctness and chose to create a false definition of what makes a person "African-American". and punish those who would think otherwise (the students behind the campaign were suspended) Such reliance on skin tone is perhaps a modern "civil rights" crusader's dream, but it certainly was Dr. King's nightmare.
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