W.E. A.L.L. B.E.: STILL, INSUFFICIENT FUNDS

STILL, INSUFFICIENT FUNDS

BY JULIANNE MALVEAUX

Had Dr. Martin Luther King lived until his birthday, January 15, he would be 81. It is

interesting to speculate how the octogenarian might spend his time. If he is

anything like some of his peers – Ambassador Andrew Young or Rev. Joseph Lowery

– he’d still be involved in some form of activism, perhaps combining religious service

with involvement in domestic and international affairs, perhaps with dimensions that

included some involvement in commerce (such as Mr. Young’s consulting company

Good Works). What might Dr. King think or say about the state we find ourselves in

today? A year since the inauguration of President Barack Obama, would he embrace

the concept of post-racialism that some bandy about? Would he reflect on his words

during the March on Washington and conclude that the dream he so brilliantly

articulated had been realized? Or would he be forced to conclude that the check is

still marked “insufficient funds”.

I am sure there will be those who will quote Dr. King’s dream that people would be

judged by “the content of their characters, not the color of their skin”. That’s the

easiest King quote to use, but it is not the most telling. In his Nobel Peace Prize

acceptance speech he said, “I have the audacity to believe that people everywhere

can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds,

peace, dignity and freedom for their spirits.” Have any of these things yet been

attained? In the middle of our recession there are millions who go hungry. On

Sunday, the New York Times reported that one in 50 American households have no

income except food stamps. You can’t pick up a single paper without reading of the

foreclosure crisis, and the increasing economic dislocation, including homelessness,

which goes with it.

Dr. King spoke of education, but the ways we fail to invest in education are

shameful. Students graduate from college with staggering amounts of debt, and

many enter college from inner city high schools that poorly prepare them for

advanced study. Education and culture? Please. Our global competitors are

investing so much more in education than we are that a nation that once led the

world is now struggling to keep up with countries we once described as

“developing.” We have made the decision not to invest fully in education as the

demographic pipeline to college has browned, suggesting that our investment

decision has at least a little something to do with race.

Dr. Martin Luther King said we came to the nation’s capital to cash a check, and he

said, in 1963, “It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory

note in so far as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred

obligation, American has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has

come back marked ‘insufficient funds’. We refuse to believe that there are

insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.”

Actually there have been sufficient funds to bail out the financial sector, but

insufficient funds to rewrite the mortgages of those they decimated, sufficient funds to help the auto industry but not ailing Detroit or laid off auto workers. When Dr.

King spoke of insufficient funds, he was speaking of the racial economic justice that

we have not yet attained, and that we are unlikely to attain unless aggressive,

corrective measures are taken.

The Congressional Black Caucus has been talking about corrective matters when

they asked President Obama to consider targeting recovery programs toward the

African American community that suffers from an extraordinarily high unemployment

rate. President Obama has rightly said that he leads a nation, not a race, but if

another group, say whites, experienced disproportionately high unemployment you

can bet there would be a targeted program for them. Indeed, one can argue that

while the bank bailout didn’t happen on President Obama’s watch, there was an

economic recovery program targeted toward just one sector of the population.

What might Dr. King say when confronted with these circumstances? While it is

impossible to predict, I think that 47 years after “I have a dream”, he would still

demand that our nation “cash the check.”

(Julianne Malveaux is President of Bennett College for Women. She can be reached at presbennett@bennett.edu.)

More MLK ON W.E. A.L.L. B.E.:

A Truly Noble King: MLK's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/10/truly-noble-king-mlks-nobel-prize.html

MLK: The Reluctant Hero...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2009/01/mlk-reluctant-hero.html

KING SIZE COURAGE Made Up For Dr. King's Shortcomings...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2007/01/king-size-courage-made-up-for-dr-kings.html

It Was All A Dream: Tigers' Connection To 68...
http://weallbe.blogspot.com/2008/04/it-was-all-dream-tigers-connection-to.html

*W.E. A.L.L. B.E. News & Radio Specials*

Re-Discovering Martin & Malcolm In The Age Of Obama: A Tribute

Show:
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W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio: Black Liberation Theology 102: Putting Rev. Wright In The Right Context...

Show:

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Topic: If Memphis Could Talk Part 4~April 4th, 1968, Another Perspective...

Show:
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W.E. A.L.L. B.E.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

STILL, INSUFFICIENT FUNDS

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