"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,” Martin Luther King Jr. said in his famous speech.
Martin
Luther King Day, a federal holiday that is observed on the third Monday of each
January, celebrates the life and achievements of this civil rights leader. King
campaigned to end racial segregation and inequality in the United States
through nonviolent activism.
Discrimination is considered an unequal treatment of people. It is borne out of fear, and can be based on race, gender, disability or age. I recently read a book called “Every Day Anti Racism,” which asserts that discrimination results from the failure of people and institutions to challenge systems of inequality. While it may seem safe to stay silent, silence is complicity. Complicity does not challenge discrimination. One way to combat discrimination is to promote diversity in society. Diversity fosters an appreciation of others’ differences. Embracing different ways of seeing things opens us up to a wealth of knowledge, experience and different perspectives.
It has been 56 years since Martin Luther King stood in front of the Lincoln Memorial and delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Since that time, we’ve seen the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 and the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. The United States continues to move forward so that all people will be treated equally under the law.l
Danielle R.