As we take this day to celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it is not only important to remember the man but what it was he stood for as well. There were many defining moments in the life of Dr. King but probably none bigger than his “I Have a Dream” speech delivered from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC on August 28, 1963. This speech was part of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Dr. King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference was just one of the “big six” civil rights organizations that organized the march.

Along with his SCLC was the NAACP, The National Urban League, the predominantly black labor union group The Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee and the Congress of Racial Equality. All had their place at the rally, but it was Dr. King that not only made history that day but kept the entire rally, even though attended by an estimated 250,000 people of all races, from being no more than a minor blip in American history.

In his speech Dr. King laid out what he believed and what he dreamed for the black community. Some of his dreams have been realized. But some of what he believed has proven to be completely incorrect and much of his dream has been abandoned if not forgotten completely.

Dr. King spoke of “The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community” and said that it “must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.”

Little did Dr. King know at the time that this “marvelous new militancy” would completely overrun the black community and not only marginalize him but make him distrusted and ridiculed in his own lifetime within the community he dedicated his life to empowering.

He spoke of the horrors blacks faced from whites in the states of Georgia, Mississippi and Alabama and of his dream that one day the oppression of racism in these states would be transformed into peace and harmony. Little did he know at the time that the “marvelous new militancy” would grow in these states and throughout the United States to the point that blacks would no longer fear death at the hands of the white man but rather at the hands of each other.

He spoke of his faith and his dream “that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.” Little did he know at the time that in the name of God so called religious leaders would aid and abet murderers and drug dealers under the misguided policy of “Do For Self”. Little did he know that from the teachings of these pulpits radical groups like the Black Panthers, the Black P Stone Nation and other equally violent groups would rise up not to fight against the injustices of the white man against blacks but become the oppressors of the black community through murderous violence and drug addiction. And that this “marvelous new militancy” would evolve into the numerous street gangs that rule the black neighborhoods and control the community through intimidation, violence and murder.

His dream that “one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers” has for the most part been fulfilled. But he could have never imagined the nightmare that little black boys and little black girls would one day be targets of each other based on not the color of their skin but the gang colors of their bandana and clothing.

Dr. King lobbied and protested to end Jim Crow laws that prohibited blacks from their right to vote and dreamt of the day blacks would be able to politically participate in their future. He never dreamt that once the black community became a voting bloc their support would be bought and paid for by the Democrat Party through the enslavement of generational welfare and their individual personal responsibility would be replaced with unrealistic expectations of entitlement and handouts.

The country will honor Martin Luther King Jr. with a day of reverent remembrance. But on the streets of the community he sought to empower his dream of equality and peace and harmony has been all but abandoned.

As the country prepares to celebrate Martin Luther King Day I took a random, unscientific survey to get an idea of exactly what people think Dr. King actually did. It unfortunately came as no surprise that, beyond the most generic idea of him being a black civil rights leader, most of those I spoke with truly have no idea.

I have absolutely no intention of besmirching the memory or accomplishments of Martin Luther King. But MLK has become such a lauded icon that his inflated legend has done more to harm his legacy than his detractors could have. I believe the very fact that children are given the day off of school as a holiday to honor him is a perfect example of how wrongly we are celebrating what it was that Martin Luther King stood for. Keeping kids out of school would have seemed absurd to him.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a man who believed passionately in the power of education as a means to move people out of poverty. That includes black people and white people alike. King, who is now remembered for his efforts to end segregation and oppression against blacks, was really very closely aligned with the populist movement. As such, he was as much an advocate for poor white people as he was for blacks and later in his life, after many of the civil rights laws were passed, he spent the bulk of his time bringing attention to the plight of poverty in America.

He was the public face of the civil rights movement but more importantly he was focused on equality for all people. In researching his life and his speeches I have no doubt that Martin Luther King would have been appalled by any program that gave preferential treatment based on skin color, even if that preference was for blacks. His goal was to evoke equality through a change in the public’s consciousness not by some misguided racial quota.

We have lost much of what Dr. King stood for in the media hoopla of camera hogs like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. The basic premise behind Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition is a Martin Luther King idea. But the actual actions of that so called coalition, focusing only on advancing blacks at the expense of all others is not.

While King deserves much credit for keeping the pressure on politicians to create and pass civil rights legislation he personally never passed a single bill or enacted any law. It is important to remember not only Martin Luther King but also who it was that supported him and his efforts and who it was that opposed him. Democrats are quick to scream racism at the drop of a hat today, but when push came to shove in the early sixties when all the civil rights legislation was being fought in the Halls of Congress, it was the Democrats that vehemently opposed it. The Kennedy administration publically supported King, but it was also then Attorney General Bobby Kennedy that ordered the FBI to secretly wiretap King’s phone lines in an effort to thwart his efforts.

The country is a very different place today than it was for Martin Luther King. In many ways the dream he spoke of on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 has been fulfilled. Unfortunately in just as many was his dream has been dashed by the slavery imposed on the culture and the spirit of the black community by the Democrats insidious imposition of dependence through welfare. I fear that Dr. King would be heartbroken to see the community he tried so hard to lift up wallowing in mire of unbridled teen pregnancies, single parent homes and parental neglect, drug abuse, gang violence, dysfunctional entitlement, abandonment of personal responsibility, prejudice and self-imposed ignorance through the rejection of education. It was never his vision that the black community be given so many fishes that they forget how to fish for themselves becoming slaves to their Democrat masters.

If you truly have a desire to honor the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spend some time Monday reading exactly what it was that he stood for. Then come back to BigFrick.com where we will discuss: Martin Luther King; A Dream Abandoned Part 2