I never was a big fan of Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am sorry to say that in Yankeeland, King's Birthday means a 3-day skiing weekend at Okemo, Stratton, Stowe, Sugarbush, Loon, or wherever (if Bush-Cheney-Halliburton has not cancelled all snow) - and little more.
I have always been a fan of treating every person with the human respect and consideration they deserve, depending on what they are made of and on how they lead their lives. Being a bit old-fashioned, I still believe that skin color is a matter of no interest or importance whatsoever.
If I were a black guy, which I would not mind at all, I would thank my lucky stars, and God, that I lived in America - Land of the Free and Home of the Brave.
However, racial equality is important - freedom of opportunity to be the kind of person you chose to be. King's politics were terrible, and I totally disagree with all of them. Why should black folks want socialism any more than white folks? Other than to get the benefit of the exertion of others? Alas, the lure of easy money crosses all human distinctions and categories, doesn't it?
But segregation was truly wrong, and I give King credit for courageously taking the leadership of the movement to get rid of that dehumanizing tradition in the South. It was long overdue. Someone had to do it. I'm glad he did, and I am very sorry that he, a man of God, was killed by ignorant, low-life rednecks in doing it.
Were he alive today as a grey-haired old guy on Hannity and Colmes (which I wish he were), I think I would still disagree with everything he might say. Still, one heck of a preacher, like his Dad. God rest his soul.
