Do you think having a holiday celebrating Martin Luther King Jr's birthday is a good idea? I'm not that crazy about it. It isn't because he wasn't a really admirable guy who did great things. It's because he really doesn't encompass what the Civil Rights movement is all about. There were a lot of leaders in the Civil Rights movement during the time MLK was active. Millions of people participated. A lot of them suffered. More than a few died. They came from different places. They had different motivations. Each of those people was just as big a hero as Martin Luther King Jr.
The Civil Rights movement is about the equal protection under the law and equal opportunity for participation in society for all people. It's not about any one race, culture, religion, age or sex. It's not about any one time period.
Civil Rights for all is a goal that can never be achieved but that the quest for is never in vain.
I'm not singling out MLK for exclusion. Most of the heroes, whose lives we celebrate, are inappropriate.
The life of every person and every society should be a journey of discovery and change. Minds open to all possibilities and the ability to discard mistaken assumptions are the most valuable resource humanity possesses.
Idolized past heroes too easily become roadblocks to future growth and discovery.
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