I missed posting on Martin Luther King Jr Day/Human Rights Day but still have some thoughts to throw out there.
When people complain or criticize this holiday I cringe. At first, I think the person making the complaint is just plain racist. Then I think maybe the person is just plain ignorant--ahem...ignorant white person. I was reading a book the other day about Emmett Till, who I had heard reference to only because of my job. I'd heard of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., and young African Americans who died because of the color of their skin. But Emmett Till wasn't a name I was familiar with. The author, Chris Crowe, makes mention that even though he was from the same state as Emmett and not far in age, he nor his parents had heard of him. The African American community on the other hand saw him as a martyr and a catalyst to the events that made the Civil Rights Movement really take off.
This got me thinking further. I myself am ignorant of many historical events and people who have made huge sacrifices for the best of causes. Maybe the point of the holiday is not just to remember a single figurehead of the Civil Rights Movement but to remember all the individuals who have fought for the rights of all mankind--just like Martin Luther King, Jr. He not only wanted his fellow African Americans to be treated with respect and equality, but also other minorities, women, and those who suffered.
Maybe "Human Rights Day" is a better name for the holiday because it encompasses all the people who have worked, died, and sacrificed for the sake of human rights throughout the world.
I hope I never live to see the day when society forgets or sits in just plain ignorance of violations of human rights and how these violations affect a People and a society as a whole. We see segments of the world population refuting the Holocaust, the failure of governments to recognize genocide for what it is and take action, we see people who complain about the "riffraff" in poverty but do nothing to try to fix it, and so on and so on.
May we remember and hold dear in our hearts our freedoms and blessings. Remember the pain of others and make what little or big steps we can to do our part to help alleviate this pain. May we respect people for being humanity and not for their outward appearances. May we remember and teach our posterity.
When people complain or criticize this holiday I cringe. At first, I think the person making the complaint is just plain racist. Then I think maybe the person is just plain ignorant--ahem...ignorant white person. I was reading a book the other day about Emmett Till, who I had heard reference to only because of my job. I'd heard of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., and young African Americans who died because of the color of their skin. But Emmett Till wasn't a name I was familiar with. The author, Chris Crowe, makes mention that even though he was from the same state as Emmett and not far in age, he nor his parents had heard of him. The African American community on the other hand saw him as a martyr and a catalyst to the events that made the Civil Rights Movement really take off.
This got me thinking further. I myself am ignorant of many historical events and people who have made huge sacrifices for the best of causes. Maybe the point of the holiday is not just to remember a single figurehead of the Civil Rights Movement but to remember all the individuals who have fought for the rights of all mankind--just like Martin Luther King, Jr. He not only wanted his fellow African Americans to be treated with respect and equality, but also other minorities, women, and those who suffered.
Maybe "Human Rights Day" is a better name for the holiday because it encompasses all the people who have worked, died, and sacrificed for the sake of human rights throughout the world.
I hope I never live to see the day when society forgets or sits in just plain ignorance of violations of human rights and how these violations affect a People and a society as a whole. We see segments of the world population refuting the Holocaust, the failure of governments to recognize genocide for what it is and take action, we see people who complain about the "riffraff" in poverty but do nothing to try to fix it, and so on and so on.
May we remember and hold dear in our hearts our freedoms and blessings. Remember the pain of others and make what little or big steps we can to do our part to help alleviate this pain. May we respect people for being humanity and not for their outward appearances. May we remember and teach our posterity.
0 comments: