If you read Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech, it is a tremendous, poetic work. But, to listen to a recording today and to understand how powerful it would have been in 1963, when the civil rights movement was as vital as it has ever been, is awe-inspiring.
So, how come no one bothered to remember its anniversary?
Thursday was the 40th anniversary of the recitation of the speech, a moment to remember for all Americans. But, here on campus, as a whole, and in Muncie, nothing happened. Even the Daily News failed to notice. But, it seems, so did most everyone else.
According to an Associated Press report published in the Sacramento Bee, a march was staged to commemorate the event, but a crowd of only 300 people attended. The route even went through the Atlanta neighborhood where Dr. King was born, and then eventually ended at the MLK National Historic Site where a rally commenced, but only 100 more arrived.
The day of Dr. King's birth is recognized as a national holiday, but on the 40th anniversary of one of his greatest achievements, no one noticed.
Is this the best we can do? Or, are our sensibilities skewed? Instead of observing a birthday as a holiday, like we do with Dr. King's and Abraham Lincoln's, why not celebrate their most sterling achievement?
Dr. King's speech and Lincoln's "The Gettysburg Address," along with Franklin Delano Roosevelt's speech in the aftermath of Pearl Harbor and John F. Kennedy's famous inaugural address, are among the greatest occurences in American history. Why aren't these events observed as holidays? Birthdays may be commemorated to celebrate a life, but is a life not marked by its achievements?
Though Ball State, the Daily News and the city of Muncie all respectfully observe Dr. King's
holiday, maybe we are placing our emphasis on the wrong moment of his life.
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