Happy MLK Day!

I suspect that if Dr Martin Luther King Jr were here today he would be as thrilled as anybody that Barack Obama is the first black president of the United States.

Yet I have no doubt that he would be the first to remind us that we are far from reaching the Promised Land that inspired his prophetic dream. 

Moreover, I have no doubt that Obama himself is all too mindful today that his election is only one small step in the march towards economic and social equality for all Americans.  Indeed, it did not take long for the fatuous notion of a post-racial election to be dispelled.

(Remember, Obama was the only black person in the US Senate; and  white Democratic leaders did all they could to block the swearing in of the black man who was appointed to replace him….)

Nevertheless, it speaks volumes that, of all the great Americans who have ever lived, MLK is the only private citizen to have a federal holiday declared in his honor.  Hell, even Washington and Lincoln have to share one holiday on Presidents Day.  

But today’s holiday is not only a testament to MLK’s greatness but also a symbolic down payment on the promissory note, which represents the unpaid (indeed unpayable) debt America owes the descendants of its former slaves.  

That said:

This is the day which the Lord has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it.

And I can think of no better way to mark this MLK Holiday than to contribute to the emergency relief effort down in Haiti. 

NOTE: Related commentaries:
Obama inauguration commemorates Lincoln…
Happy MLK Day 2008
Burris finally sworn in to replace Obama in Senate