I is for Integration

Jeremy Walker (00:15):

And welcome back for another episode of Preschool Pioneers. I'm your host, Jeremy Walker. You can follow us on our parent network CR101 Radio, on social media such as Facebook, Twitter, Gab and YouTube. And you can subscribe to this podcast on your preferred platform so you never miss an episode. Visit cr101radio.com for these links

(00:45):

And welcome back guys. This episode of Preschool Pioneers is entitled "I is for Integration. How the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. has been defiled and disrespected and what Christian educators can do about it." I grew up a child of the eighties and the nineties. I heard about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. growing up as a child. His famous speech about "I Have a Dream" and how almost every city in the United States of America has at least one, if not more than one, street named after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

(01:30):

And there's a very good reason for that. He was highly influential in the concept of America getting over its integration problem, where people did not see other fellow citizens like themselves. It was also called the "Race problem," where you had white only areas and colored people only areas, and it was quite a messed up time.

(01:55):

But things changed growing up in the eighties and the nineties. Those problems that he was discussing and talking about and the things that shook America during that era, matured and changed by the time I came around, in the eighties and nineties. I'm going to be sharing clips of the speech, "I Have a Dream," that he gave in 1963. I'm going to break it down into clips. We're going to be giving some commentary on it, discussing it. How does this relate to today? To Christian education today? And of course, how does that relate to what we're seeing today? Are the people today respecting what his vision was, at least in the speech? And if they're not, why not? And how do we know?

(02:52):

Well, I want to go ahead and just start with the clips because before this week I had not actually listened to the whole speech, about 17 minutes, myself. I just hadn't ever listened to the whole thing. People like to do a little highlight clips and talk about things, but they never really give you the whole thing. So I went and found it and I found clips. I encourage you to look it up. You can find it anywhere on the internet. Just look up for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the speech, "I Have a Dream." I want to start with clip number one and let's have a discussion about it. So here we go, clip one.

Dr. Martin Luther King (03:24):

And so we've come here today to dramatize a shameful condition. In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, Black men as well as white men would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Jeremy Walker (04:17):

This is a wonderful place to start. I want you to really pay attention to what he's saying because when you kind of step back and you listen to things and what people said just in this case, 1963, we're in 2024, we are about 61 years from the time that he gave that. He refers to America, and at it's foundation in particular, as a Republic. Absolutely. We are a constitutional republic here in the United States. That that is not taught. That is not taught In the United States of America. It's not on any news station. Every politician that gets up and talks about America calls it what? A democracy. Oh, the peoples, the popular vote. We just all get together, cast our vote, and that's who wins, the majority, the tyranny of the majority. We are not a democracy. We're a republic. A constitutional republic. And we have a constitution. Something that people want to ignore.

(05:29):

Absolutely. Here today, 2024, you would swear that America does not have a constitution that prohibits and restricts The Government from doing things to its citizens. I love what he says. He is a highly intelligent man who knows America and knows how it's supposed to work. He knows that if a person is a United States citizen, an American, they have rights. It does not matter what color of your skin is. That's right. It does not matter what religion you are. That's right. People in United States are covered under law, under the constitution and are governed by a constitutional republic. Let's continue.

Dr. Martin Luther King (06:18):

Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time.

Audience (06:40):

Now is the time.

Dr. Martin Luther King (06:45):

To make justice a reality for all of God's children. It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negroes legitimate discontent will not pass until that is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.

Jeremy Walker (07:11):

Did you catch all that? Freedom, equality, racial justice, God's people. These concepts are twisted and perverted in our modern day. He is calling for, in this speech, people to be seen as people, God's children, humanity, people under God. See, you don't have to claim to be a Christian to be owned by God. You are owned by him. Now, you might be a rebel, but you're still God's property. One of God's children. You might be a disobedient child, but still one of his creations, and that means you are covered under God's law, how you're supposed to be treated. Freedom and equality under God is what Martin Luther King Jr. is calling for.

(08:15):

He's also talking about racial justice. Not the new modern concept what they are calling racial justice. He is saying he wants people that are Black to be treated as if they were white and whites to be treated as if they were Blacks. It's all the same. He wants people to be seen as equals under God. That's something that every Christian teacher can absolutely get behind and every Christian parent should be promoting with their children. Let's listen to the next clip.

Dr. Martin Luther King (09:00):

There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But that is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.

(10:06):

Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people. For many of our white brothers as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.

Jeremy Walker (11:07):

Boy oh boy, is there so much in that little clip. So much that people are not at all in agreement with anymore. Yet Christians can be behind these words. He was calling for citizenship rights to be upheld. All American citizens to be equal under the law, to have justice under the law, despite the color of their skin. Absolutely 110 percents. He says even though they have a right to be angry, which we can all agree they do, in 1963, America was not at its best, there was real racism in America, absolutely. But what he said I thought was fantastic and I wish people would catch it today, though you have a righteous anger over certain things, he said, let's not be guilty of wrong deeds ourselves. Oh, hold on a second here. This is a Christian concept, isn't it? Where two wrongs don't make a right. Even if somebody has done something wrong to you, it doesn't give you the right then to treat or mistreat those people wrong.

(12:28):

He says you can't drink from the cup of bitterness and hatred. He did not want his people who had a rightful reason to be angry at people who are not like them, who were not treating them fairly, to not become bitter and hateful towards them in return. That is a uniquely Christian characteristic. Not to treat people how they are treating you, but how you would want them to treat you, is how you treat them. This is an amazing concept that people are not getting behind. He said that they have to have the high plane of dignity, not to degenerate into physical acts of violence. Have you been paying attention to the news over the last five to 10 years? People do not agree with this at all. They're calling for physical acts of violence. Absolutely. He was talking about the concept of physical force versus soul force.

(13:37):

This is a very Christian concept though I would explain it in different terms. The different terms being, we don't change things through acts of violence and violent revolution. We change things through education, through teaching and waiting on God's timing. Being able to suffer through people who are hurting you to move forward. This is a uniquely Christian characteristic and mode of operations.

(14:09):

I love what he said next. Did you catch it? Did you catch it? Because boy oh boy, they need to take this clip and just put it on national billboards. What did he say? Let's not let our current problem lead us to a distrust of all white people. What is happening in the United States of America today? On every news station and outlet for the past five years at least, they've been saying that the problem with America is white people, angry white people. Yes, they're promoting the concept of hating all whites.

(14:48):

And guess what? People are getting the message. People disagree with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. 100%. Because he was not calling for this. He was not calling for hatred and evil. And especially in our modern times, you're asking for hatred and evil for people who didn't participate in any of this stuff back in 1963, those people were right there in front of him, and he was still saying, the people next to you who are currently hating you and want to hurt you, don't hate them. This was different. Nowadays, this isn't the problem. But moving on, he said that people have to understand that their destinies are tied together. White people, Black people, everyone. That's also a uniquely Christian doctrine. That's right. To believe that we are all tied together in God's plan wherever we live. It does not matter the color of your skin. If you are here, you are important.

(15:52):

And that's what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was trying to point out. He says that freedom, the freedom of the white man, the freedom of the Black man, they were all freedom is tied together. Why do you think people want racial divides and don't want people together? Probably because if we started seeing each other as important, if we started seeing each other as completely tied, that if we lose freedoms, they lose freedoms. If they lose freedoms, we lose freedoms, then it's very difficult for us to give up our freedoms because we don't want those people to lose them because we'll lose them too. Dr. Martin Luther, King Jr. was on to something wasn't he? He said that they can't walk alone. America has to be unified. If it is going to move forward, a nation needs to be strong, strong at its core. No divisions. You don't see a Black American and a white American. You just see an American. That is very important. It's a Christian concept. We don't see a Black Christian and a white Christian. We just see a Christian.

(17:08):

As far as our concept of justice is concerned, liberty and freedoms are concerned, we don't see any differences. We all need to have the same level under God. And that's what he says, is how we march ahead and don't look back. People are trying to force people to look back, look back, look back, look back, look back, where the problems of 1963 are no longer here. His speech helped shape and change things and God used that and now America is a much better place than it used to be in 1963. But people are wanting what? Divide, divide, divide. Look back, look back, look back. Let's not move forward. Keep everyone stunted.

Dr. Martin Luther King (18:01):

So even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed. We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal.

Jeremy Walker (18:38):

Did you catch that as well? Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was saying that his dream was rooted in the American dream. Do you catch him saying that he despised the American dream? Did you hear him say that he hated America? Did you hear him say that it was founded by a bunch of racists? No. He was saying he loved the American dream. Why? Because the American dream is so radical. It had its creeds that all men are created equal under God. America is a truly unique place in all the world and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. knew that and loved it. That's right, loved it. The American dream. Let's continue.

Dr. Martin Luther King (19:36):

I have a dream that 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. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day down in Alabama with its vicious racists, with its governor, having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, one day right there in Alabama, little Black boys and Black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers, I have a dream today.

(20:33):

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted and every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be made plain and the crooked places will be made straight. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope. With this faith, we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith, we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day. This will be the day with all of God's children be able to sing with new meaning "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims' pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."

Jeremy Walker (22:00):

This is the culmination of the "I Have a Dream," speech. And what is his vision? A vision where his own personal children and those like them, and every child in America is not judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. This comment has been used on social media, in debates and speeches, and nobody wants to talk about it. They just want to talk about skin color. They don't agree with Dr. Martin Luther King. This is too Christian for them. His vision where little Black boys and girls could join hands with little white boys and girls as if they were sisters and brothers, they saw each other as equals. Is this what we want today? Is this what we see today? It's not. He has a Christian faith, at least proposed in the speech, a biblical vision worth the Glory of the Lord, getting rid of despair and bringing hope, getting rid of discord and bringing brotherhood under God.

(23:16):

Singing the Land of Liberty song, "Let Freedom Ring." As Christian parents and Christian teachers, we can clearly look around and see that the world does not agree with Dr. Martin Luther King's speech about integration. Right now in 2024 of April, people are calling for a new form of segregation. They despise every single thing that was in the speech of "I have a Dream." They might have his name up on street corners, but they do not have him or his ideas in their doctrines or in their hearts. Now, for me, I don't know, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. or his life enough to really comment on it. What I can comment on is the content of this vision, and it's something that all Christians can get behind. A vision where as Christian teachers and Christian parents, we teach that we are under God and his people. Promote godliness, get rid of hate, get rid of discord, and promote unity under God.

(24:33):

I hope this has given you something to think about. It's Jeremy Walker signing off.