Selma: Then and Now

Penn State Special Collection/Flickr

With the new movie “Selma” coming out, it’s that time of year when we remember Dr.
Martin Luther King and his words to bring justice to people mistreated with so much injustice
when it came to housing, jobs, public accommodations and all things we need to live the
“American Dream.” Sadly, far too many of us are still fighting for the right to live that “American
Dream” despite so many on the right saying we have the right to do just that with absolutely
no thoughts about they can help people who have spent all their years with the deck stacked
against them.

Now it is fashionable for those on the right to talk about people’s shortcomings and paint
a picture that makes everything wrong in their lives their fault. But when I think about Dr. King
and his work, I think about one of the last places he visited–Chicago. He said it was more racist
than Alabama. So, in their way, were Boston and many other East Coast cities that instituted
segregationist laws and policies from which black citizens are still trying to recover and rebuild
their lives and their communities.

This country still has a lot of growing up to do before we can say we are on a level
playing field for all people and the injustice for which Dr. King gave his life no longer exists.


Issues |Systemic Racism


Region |Washington DC

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