It's 57 years ago that Martin Luther King Jnr had a dream

It was 57 years ago today - 28 August 1963 - that American civil rights leader and Christian minister, Martin Luther King, Jnr, delivered his momentous speech to 250,000 supporters on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC.

He called for civil and economic rights and an end to racism in the United States. He boldly declared that he had a dream:

“I have a dream today.

“I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

His powerful address was a defining moment in the civil rights movement and regarded as one of the most iconic speeches in American history.

• Just one year later, at the age of 35, Dr King was the youngest person ever to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, for his nonviolent resistance to racial prejudice in America.
• Five years after his speech, in 1968 when Dr King was just 39, he was shot dead. The assassination led to a wave of nationwide riots.
• And almost 60 years after Dr King’s stirring speech? His dream is yet to be fulfilled.

There is rampant racism in the USA and the UK, where black people can still be singled out for police discrimination and brutality.

On Sunday, 29-year-old African American, Jacob Blake, was shot several times in the back by a white police officer in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA. He is currently in hospital, paralysed from the waist down.

There followed widespread riots and destruction.

Jacob Blake’s mother, Julia Jackson, made a composed but impassioned plea for restraint and an end to violence in her son’s name.

But she did more than that.

She also gave an iconic speech for an end to racism – just as Martin Luther King Jnr did all those years ago. She called not only for her son to heal, but for her country to heal too.

She said at a press conference this week:

“Clearly, you can see by now that I have beautiful brown skin, but take a look at your hand and whatever shade it is, it is beautiful as well.

“How dare we hate what we are? We are humans. God did not make one type of tree or flower or fish or horse or grass or rock. How dare you ask him to make one type of human that looks just like you?”

She added:

“No one is superior to the other.”

Here in Britain the Brexit vote was in great part based on prejudice.

I am on public record many times for saying that I strongly believe the vast majority of those who voted for Brexit are not racists.

But there can be little doubt that racism played its part, and sufficient numbers of racists – even though likely a minority – voted for Brexit to ensure its victory.

‘Too many migrants’ was cited as one of the reasons people opted for ‘Leave’ in the referendum.

The dislike, sometimes sheer hatred, of foreigners has been stoked for decades by leading newspapers that actively promote xenophobia.

Politicians such as Nigel Farage exploit and exacerbate that hatred by pushing forward an agenda of division, including separation from our allies and neighbours in Europe, directly leading to Brexit.

There is no healing in hatred and division; it just keeps open an oozing, painful, gaping wound that damages all levels of society and communities.

There is hope. A map of Britain published before the referendum showed that support for Nigel Farage was highest in areas of low migration, and lowest in areas of high migration.

Another iconic anti-racist leader, Mahatma Gandhi, got it right when he said:

“The enemy is fear. We think it is hate, but it is fear.”

Knowledge, hope and love are the most powerful antidotes to the fear and hate that pervades and permeates all prejudice.

We need to use our combined brains, hearts and determined energy and love to resist all forms of racism. It’s long overdue to reawaken Dr King’s dream and make it a reality.

• Watch this 3-minute video of Martin Luther King Jnr and Julia Jackson:

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