What would King, Lincoln think?
As I caught clips of the inauguration, I wondered if Martin Luther King Jr. and Abraham Lincoln were rolling in their graves.Both men fought valiantly to free black Americans, to afford them opportunities to prosper, to be paid a honest day’s wage for an honest day’s work and be paid the same wage as the white American next to him provided he did the job just as well.
Men who wanted black Americans to be able to walk into any school of their choosing, get on a bus without having to sit at the back, to drink from any water fountain they chose or eat at any lunch counter they desired. Men who didn’t deign to have the black or white Americans be dependent on the government, be told what medical insurance they were required to buy and, take from those that had worked hard and earned their money and give to those that were lazy so everybody had an equal share just by virtue of being born. Men who wanted black women and men to have freedom, justice, opportunity without fear of retribution.
President Barack Obama placed his hand on the Bibles of King and Lincoln and said he would defend the Constitution of these United States.
He is a man who would rather tell black Americans he will take care of them whether they aspire to take care of themselves or not, a man who has made women running around screaming for an Obama phone and Obama money the norm, and people that criticize people like that are called racist instead of honest, revenue -producing Americans.
If King and Lincoln were alive today, would they believe their dreams of freedom and justice and judging a man by the content of his character not the color of his skin had been realized, or would they realize that somewhere along the way the words that JFK used -- “ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country” -- became just that, empty words and not realities.
Lisa Gunter, Newnan
