It was a sweltering hot summer day in 1967 when my father drove the family up to the customs booth at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont.
Rising thick, black smoke blurred the towering skyline across the river in Detroit. The once grand city was burning. It was a battleground for race riots. Anger within the African-American community had achieved a critical mass.
Even then, as a child more concerned about hockey and baseball scores, I heard the name of Martin Luther King, the charismatic, determined but gentle spiritual leader for millions of disenfranchised African-Americans.
Throughout the turmoil engulfing America's dark days that hot summer, King was everywhere on television, fighting for change but not advocating violence.
It was four years earlier when he delivered his revolutionary ‘I have a dream' speech at the March on Washington rally, an event intended to show mass support for progressive civil rights legislation proposed earlier that year by President John F. Kennedy. That day was Aug. 28, 1963, a half century ago.
Historians taking note tomorrow of King's groundbreaking speech hail it as one of the greatest and most inspirational of the 20th century, a vision that helped transform America away from its greatest shame – its unfair and unjust treatment of its most vital minority group.
The question many in America may be asking is whether much has changed over the course of 50 years, while the rest of the free world – including Canada -- will also reflect whether the civil rights leader's influence made a difference on relationships with their own minorities.
At first glance African-Americans appear to have made significant headway in the United States. But has America today as a whole given more than just lip service to King's vision since he declared in Washington: “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal'.”
And while this is the ultimate goal for America and all western democracies, how do average American citizens feel about civil rights progress since King's grand moment 50 years ago?
“I guess my general answer would be, yes, civil rights and equality has improved in the last 50 years. I have seen it improve over my lifetime for sure. However, a more accurate answer would probably be that it depends on where you are in the country as to how far things have come,” said John Pointer, a friend of mine in North Carolina, and a professional educator who has a keen interest in African-American affairs.
“Many states are implementing voting laws that are reminiscent of the years following the Civil War -- when people tried to prevent a certain population of people from being able to vote,” added Pointer.
“The current laws may not specifically target American blacks, but they have the same purpose -- denying people the opportunity to vote. I think the U.S. has come a long way since King's speech. But we certainly have a long way to go.”
But the inspiration is still there 50 years later. And America and the rest of the world can still seize King's vision. It may be slow coming, but the torch remains high to maintain the momentum and will of King's once improbable dream.
