Today marks the thirtieth year that Martin Luther King Jr Day has been federally celebrated. Martin Luther King Jr. was a prominent civil rights leader in the 1960s, and his subsequent assassination in 1968 was a historic moment that has defined conversations of racial equality for over fifty years. King’s most well-known piece, his “I Have a Dream” Speech, has been analyzed by women and men alike, young and old, for decades. It has been a classroom standard, (repetition, anyone?), and King’s carefully-crafted words continue to inspire today. But as we as a country honor this great leader, the question that remains to be answered fifty-two year later is, “Have his dreams been achieved today?” Members of DU’s Black Student Alliance (BSA) have weighed in on the important issues King addressed.
“…The Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.”
Q: Obviously, America is still battling this today with names such as Michael Brown Jr., Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, and Freddie Gray in recent news. Why do you think this is still an issue today?
A: I believe that police brutality is still an issue today because it has never been properly addressed. Police brutality has existed for centuries. When people have tried to protest this issue, like N. W. A. with their hit F**k the Police, they were scrutinized and threatened. Instead of addressing police brutality, our society has chosen to ridicule those who question officers. I believe that if accusations of police brutality are taken lightly, we will never see a resolution to this problem. Racism will always exist, and we need to remain mindful of racial stereotypes and unconscious bias that we all carry with us. Currently, I feel our country is taking the necessary steps towards controlling police brutality with body camera regulations and I am optimistic that they will soon be mandatory in every police force across the nation. -Victoria Price-Husher
“We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote.”
Q: Thankfully, we have eliminated the first statement. Do you still feel, however, that African-Americans have nothing to vote for?
A: No I don’t feel we have nothing to vote for. In this quote, MLK is referring to the injustices that many African Americans in America, regardless of their geographical location, were faced with. While these injustices are no longer faced by the majority of African Americans, there are still a few that are faced with them, on a rather regular scale. -Montrell Nickerson
“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.”
Q: There has been a push in the last few years at DU for Inclusive Excellence. Specifically, during your time here at DU, have you felt judged by the color of your skin or your character?
A: Even though I’ve been at DU such a short period, I’ve definitely felt some separation between myself and my fellow Pios. It’s weird to come from such a diverse community to a place like DU where I’m lucky to find even one other black person in a class. I think that I’m not judged so much for being Black, but am expected to speak for the entire black community when it comes to my own opinion, and that’s just because there is a lack of diversity on campus to learn from. I believe that DU is inclusively excellent, but I have yet to hear clearly from the school what that means for them or how they wish to implement it. Once the school makes a formal definition for the faculty, staff, and students to follow, it will then make more ground to reach its goal. Until then, how can the classroom be a place where, for black and other minority students, like me, [where] everyone feels comfortable and can truly succeed? -Makia Jones
“Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”
Q: Perhaps King’s most famous words…is the black community free today in 2016?
A: Free to vote maybe-unless you were unjustly put in jail. Free to travel-unless you have been recently stopped by the police. Free to exercise desires to be black unapologetically? Maybe-until you are told that you are ratchet, or told to quiet your tongue for making your peers uncomfortable. While we have made progress compared to years ago, we are still not free. The oppression has changed its strategy. Until my people are no longer profiled for their clothing, unjustly shot, seen as thugs, and told that their skin is naturally inferior-until the system and the culture in America begins to value black lives and black communities, we are not free. -Tashan Montgomery
BSA meets at 6:30 on Thursdays in the JMAC classroom.