The United States of America has come a long way in the past half-century. And yet, in some ways, a particular mindset among Leftists has either remained the same or has actually regressed.
Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a powerful speech about civil rights in 1963. In the speech, he rightly downplayed the significance of one’s race.
“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.
King, the famed civil rights icon, uttered these important and common sense sentiments more than half a century ago and they are just as prudent now as they were then.
My question is: when will Leftists heed the dream that King espoused nearly 60 years ago?
Why do Leftists place so much emphasis on the color of one’s skin? Additionally, why do they so greatly value one’s gender or nationality?
Have they learned nothing from King?
A recent article from Politico shows that those on the Left seemingly have not learned that lesson.
The article notes that many Democrats — although I’d wager they are more “Leftist” than “Liberal” — are disconcerted that the front runners for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination are mostly white and male.
To me, this feeling is directly antithetical to Dr. King’s vision. These Democrats are more concerned about the race and gender of the leading candidates than about their character and — more importantly — their policies.
Do Leftists even care about policy over politician? It would appear they do not
I’d be curious to conduct an experiment, broken into two separate tests, and see the results.
Test No. 1: Place side-by-side photos of a black female and a white male in front of self-identified Democratic voters. Ask them to choose their preferred candidate.
Test No. 2: Remove the photos and pretend you’re presenting them two different candidates. Instead of photos, you’re presenting policy positions for each. Unbeknownst to them, the black female is actually a Republican and the white male is a Democrat.
I guarantee you that the black female would receive way more votes in Test 1 than in Test 2, because Democrats seem to care more about superficial qualities like race and gender than they do about a candidate’s policies.
After the voting is conducted, let these randomly selected Democratic voters know that they’ve been hoodwinked, and watch their reaction as they learn the truth about these candidates.
My advice to these, and every other voter in the country, would be to stop placing so much emphasis on the politician, and instead focus more on the policies.
Or, to put it another way: vote for the policy, not the politician.
Leftists push the fallacy of “institutional racism”
The other fallacy that the Left perpetuates is this idea of “systemic” or “institutional” racism.
In short, the United States of America no longer fosters such a racism.
Tell this to a Leftist and his or her head might literally explode with anger. But ask him or her for an example of institutional racism and they cannot and will not present a valid case.
Institutional racism, by definition, is the harboring and fostering of racism by an institution. Or, to put it another way: it’s the legal and accepted practice of discrimination of a race by such entities as schools, businesses, police forces, or even the government.
I don’t mean to demean those who believe institutional racism still exists, but I encourage — and somewhat plead with — these individuals to explain how “acceptable racism” exists.
Go ahead, I’ll wait.
The answer, of course, is that no institution in America deems racism acceptable.
Here’s where Leftists fail to meet reality. Leftists who cry about institutional racism think that one or two rogue individuals within an institution speak for the entire organization.
That’s just illogical!
It’s not the organization that promotes or defends racism — it’s an individual’s nonconformity with the values of the institution.
Think about your family or your place of work. If someone in your family did something morally wrong, would you want to be labeled with the same sin as he? If a peer at your work made your company look bad, is it appropriate to lump you in with the same misdeed?
Of course not. That’s imbecilic.
Man will continue to be fallible, but institutions do change
Since the creation of mankind, and until the end of days, there have been and will be rogue individuals. That’s true of any civilization or institution. But the behavior of some individuals does not mean the institution accepts, defends, supports or promotes such actions.
Leftists need to stop pushing that narrative because it’s a sorry excuse. America will continue to have individual racists — or even small groups of racists — throughout the remainder of its existence. That’s human fallibility.
But the concept of “institutional racism” — the accepted practice of an institution to harbor and promote racism — has long since evaporated following the courage and conviction of Dr. King.
It’s time for Leftists to stop focusing on race and gender. See through the skin. Overlook the body. Pay attention to the content of the character.