Forty-seven years after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. presented his historical “I Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., it’s evident that the civil rights leader’s most feared nightmare still exists. America continues to be deeply divided by race and we all can thank Glenn Beck and Rev. Al Sharpton for bringing the ugly truth to the forefront.
Beck, a staunch right-winger, decided to hold a rally on the National Mall to help restore traditional American values and honor King’s message. It’s hard to understand how Beck, who once called President Barack Obama a racist, could possibly honor King’s message by speaking to a majority white crowd. Sharpton countered Beck by hosting his own rally and march at Dunbar High School, just a few miles away from the National Mall. But Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, the NAACP and the SCLC all lacked foresight by not acquiring a permit to hold a rally on the National Mall during this important date.
I attended Beck’s rally first to listen to his speech and walk alongside thousands of his followers. About 95 percent of the crowd was white and were mostly dressed in red, white and blue. They wore t-shirts with images of Ronald Regan, Tea Party, “Restoring Honor,” and George Washington printed on them. Only a few held signs because Beck advised attendees, who have been known to carry signs that are disrespectful to Obama, to not bring them. But a few did pass out fliers that depicted the president as Hitler that urged voters to “dump Obama.” Beck’s message of religious fortitude and change seemed a bit bland and cliché, but his followers were captured by his every word.
An hour after Beck finished speaking, Sharpton and thousands of his supporters marched with him to the King Memorial, which is one block away from the Lincoln Memorial. Sharpton’s group held signs and wore t-shirts that read, “Reclaim The Dream”, “I Demand Democracy,” and “Organizing for Power.” His group was 95 percent black.
Beck’s supporters cringed, looked in awe, beeped their car horns in protest, or smirked as Sharpton and his group made their way to the National Mall.
At that moment, the racial juxtaposition of America was in plain view. Two groups divided by race and political ideologies were at the nation’s capitol to honor King’s words at separate times in separate ways. Whatever messages Beck and Sharpton shared with their followers was lost in the battle to be better than the opposition.
As Sharpton’s group marched on Pennsylvania Avenue, a white teenager said, “They won’t beat our number; we had close to one million.” Though petty, that statement represented the mentality of most of the people who marched with Sharpton and listened to Beck.
Sharpton and Beck could’ve put their differences aside to develop a rally where both groups could have come together on the National Mall to celebrate King’s legacy. For two hours, both groups could’ve played make believe and provided a glimpse of what King’s ‘Dream’ would look like if we all took the time to wake up. –amir shaw
