Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
My musings will not always be humorous. There are some things which beg to be said in a serious vein. My comments today are serious in nature.
Yesterday, America celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Many people used the day off as an excuse to shop at the mall. Thousands of others used the day to provide various services to their communities. Since I was otherwise engaged on this day, I will commemorate Dr King’s life with a larger than usual contribution to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SLPC).
The SLPC dedicates its resources to promoting the ideology of tolerance in America. It does this on three fronts:
It battles racial hatred and inequality head on in America's courts.
The Center also gathers information about the more prominent hate groups - the
Klan, Nazis, neo-Nazis, Skinheads, among too many others - and provides this
information to interested parties and law enforcement officials throughout the
country.
Most importantly, the SPLC makes available to schools various resources
teaching the importance of tolerance. These resources come in the way of
booklets, films and videotapes. These materials counteract the vile and
poisonous ideology that hate groups ply in the nation’s schoolyards and
on the web.
Shockingly, these groups and their actions get very little attention in the mainstream media, at least until one of them burns a cross somewhere. Then, when the shock wears off, everyone goes about his/her business until the next racial incident. The SPLC never goes away.
The simple answer would be to shut them up, but our Constitution won’t allow that (God bless the pesky First Amendment!). Fortunately, the same amendment that allows them to spew their hatred also allows the rest of us to tell them "Shut Up!" If we have to hear them, then they will certainly have to hear those of us who disavow and disagree with their actions.
Once in a while a voice of reason rises above this din. One such voice was stilled one night in Memphis in 1968. Dr. King left us then, but his words and ideals live on in the deeds done by the thousands of volunteers on Martin Luther King, Jr. day. They also live on in the work of the SPLC.
For more information, contact the SPLC at www.splcenter.org.
Yesterday, America celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. day. Many people used the day off as an excuse to shop at the mall. Thousands of others used the day to provide various services to their communities. Since I was otherwise engaged on this day, I will commemorate Dr King’s life with a larger than usual contribution to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SLPC).
The SLPC dedicates its resources to promoting the ideology of tolerance in America. It does this on three fronts:
It battles racial hatred and inequality head on in America's courts.
The Center also gathers information about the more prominent hate groups - the
Klan, Nazis, neo-Nazis, Skinheads, among too many others - and provides this
information to interested parties and law enforcement officials throughout the
country.
Most importantly, the SPLC makes available to schools various resources
teaching the importance of tolerance. These resources come in the way of
booklets, films and videotapes. These materials counteract the vile and
poisonous ideology that hate groups ply in the nation’s schoolyards and
on the web.
Shockingly, these groups and their actions get very little attention in the mainstream media, at least until one of them burns a cross somewhere. Then, when the shock wears off, everyone goes about his/her business until the next racial incident. The SPLC never goes away.
The simple answer would be to shut them up, but our Constitution won’t allow that (God bless the pesky First Amendment!). Fortunately, the same amendment that allows them to spew their hatred also allows the rest of us to tell them "Shut Up!" If we have to hear them, then they will certainly have to hear those of us who disavow and disagree with their actions.
Once in a while a voice of reason rises above this din. One such voice was stilled one night in Memphis in 1968. Dr. King left us then, but his words and ideals live on in the deeds done by the thousands of volunteers on Martin Luther King, Jr. day. They also live on in the work of the SPLC.
For more information, contact the SPLC at www.splcenter.org.
posted by todd gunther | 6:48 AM
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