*is crying* WKNO was on national NPR today. Sadly, because WKNO has made the mostly classical music stream the only one you can listen to on regular radio, I had to hear it from MPB. I hear today the sanitation workers are marching along with many other people to the civil rights museum. Many people are recommitting themselves to civil rights. I'd like to say that Dr. King didn't mean that we should sweep the real enduring problems under the rug. I don't think he meant that my dad saying that white people are likely to dress their children up as cheerleaders and send them to school is the same as the savage inequalities of today.

The thing that people forget when misquoting King is community effects. Often the solution that people come up with is that black folks should keep their heads down and just be better than everyone else. But that is too oversimplified. For example, in the 1800s, only a few women were doctors, but now we are approaching parity. Did women suddenly become smarter and better people over the years? Or was it societal changes that lead the way? I think it's societal changes. We can hope for miracles and tear down those who don't measure up, but the truth is that people don't live in a vacuum. Put 100 kids in a crappy school and maybe 10 will do well, but let's say 25 drop out- which lessens the amount of skilled workers in the community, and the rest scrape by barely- some of them choosing to become low skilled workers, others turning to a life of crime. The whole community and its fabric is weakened by not investing in people.

People in jail are absent from families, people struggling with two jobs can not give as much support to children and the community, and the cycle continues. Let's not sweep race under the rug for another forty years. Let's do something about inequality.