Building the Beloved Community

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Building the Beloved Community
By Coretta Scott King

In the "I Have A Dream" speech, delivered by my husband, Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1963, he challenged the nation to eliminate racial injustice, and he filled the hearts and souls of freedom-loving Americans with his clarion call to unify America in "a beautiful symphony of brotherhood."

It has been a long time since we heard our political leaders talk about brotherhood and sisterhood, hasn’t it? Yet, I believe that the full rainbow of humanity has not been tossed on these shores by mere coincidence, but to provide an irresistible demonstration of community for the rest of the world. Our strivings to meet this challenge is the great work of democracy. When this vision of unity is finally fulfilled throughout the nation, then the America of our noblest ideals will become a reality.

And a daunting challenge it is. Despite significant progress in reducing racial justice, racism is still a brutally-destructive force in America. People of color continue to face pervasive discrimination in hiring, compensation, promotion, firing, redlining, funding for education and admission to colleges.

The struggle against racial injustice must continue. But justice requires that we be equally vigilant in protesting against all forms of bigotry, prejudice and discrimination based on religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation, age, physical or mental disability and other kinds of injustice that degrade the quality of life for millions of citizens.

Continued @ http://www.jewishpost.com/jp1001/jpbr1001e.htm