All of us have been witness to a historic and watershed happening that will rewrite the history of the world. Something that has been fought for, something people have died for, something people have been imprisoned for, something that has defined human dynamics in many many countries over the last couple of hundred years. It was on September 22, 1862 that Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation declaring freedom for all slaves. Despite the proclamation, little change was noticed in America. But the struggle continued due to the untiring, selfless sacrifices of many people, people who had the tenacity, the perseverance and the courage to tell themselves, “Yes, we can.”
James Meredith was the first black student to enroll at the University of Mississippi on October 1, 1962. Violence and riots surrounding the incident cause President Kennedy to send 5,000 federal troops.
One hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation, on 28 August 1963, Martin Luther King delivered his famous “I have a dream” speech, ironically standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington. He said, “But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. And so we've come here today to dramatise a shameful condition.” Martin Luther King knew the credo, “Yes, we can.”
What was his dream? To quote from that famous speech - “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." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. 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.”
Yes, if we really believe, we can.
Before, I go on, let us introspect on how much has really changed. Let us superimpose dream of Martin Luther King as our dream. In an Indian context. How will the speech read? “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." I have a dream that one day on the plains of Orissa, the deserts of Rajasthan, the streets of Gujarat, the potholes of Bangalore, the coasts of Mangalore, the sons of Muslims and dalits and harijans and the sons of the so-called upper caste Hindus will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Kashmir, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the form of their faith but by the content of their character.”
Yes, we can dream that dream.
On July 2, 1964 President Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The most sweeping civil rights legislation since Reconstruction, the Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination of all kinds based on race, color, religion, or national origin. The law also provided the federal government with the powers to enforce desegregation.
Not much changed in America. On Aug 4, 1964 in Neshoba Country, Mississipi the bodies of James E. Chaney, 21; Andrew Goodman, 21; and Michael Schwerner, 24 who had been working to register black voters and had gone to investigate the burning of a black church. They were arrested by the police on speeding charges, incarcerated for several hours and then released after dark, into the hands of the Ku Klux Klan, who murdered them.
It took one hundred years after the Emancipation Proclamation for Martin Luther King to say enough is enough and organised the largest ever civil rights gathering in 1963. Little changed. "Bloody Sunday" occurred on March 7, 1965 in Selma, Alabama, when 600 civil rights marchers were attacked by state and local police with billy clubs and tear gas while they were trying to cross the bridge to the white section of the city trying to bring attention to the violations of their civil rights. It was a legal right they were fighting for.
Each of the marchers told himself while they were on the march, “Yes, we can.”
August 10, 1965. Congress passes the Voting Rights Act of 1965, making it easier for Southern blacks to register to vote. Literacy tests, poll taxes, and other such requirements that were used to restrict black voting are made illegal.
Interracial marriages which were illegal, are repealed by the United Supreme Court in 1967.
Yes, we can.
In 1991, after two years of debates, vetoes, and threatened vetoes, President Bush reversed himself and signed the Civil Rights Act of 1991, strengthening existing civil rights laws and providing for damages in cases of intentional employment discrimination.
Yes, we can.
James Bonard Fowler, the former state trooper responsible for the murder of Jimmie Lee Jackson at Selma, is indicted, 40 years after Jackson's death.
Yes, we can.
Shirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was an American politician, educator and author. In 1968, she became the first African American woman elected to Congress. On January 23, 1972, she became the first major-party African American candidate for President of the United States. On November 3, 1983, Rev Jesse Jackson announced his campaign for presidency. In 1984, Jackson became the second African American to mount a nationwide campaign for President of the United States, running as a Democrat. It is a case of third time lucky for African Americans. Today, 146 after the Emancipation Proclamation, Barack Hussain Obama is the first African American President-elect of the United States of America. Let us not forget Condoleeza Rice and Colin Powell who occupied the highest offices in US administration.
Yes, we can.
We have sat through the multiple re-runs of Obama’s acceptance/victory speech. Many have shed tears at the accomplishment that was so many years in the making. However, beyond the rhetoric, do we see the humility in victory? In McCain concession speech do we notice the graciousness in defeat? Obama will not only be the President of the African Americans. He will not only be the President of the Democratic Party. Barack Hussain Obama will be the President of the United States of America.
A lot has changed in America with this election and it will impact the rest of the world. But how much has really changed? Obama had an overwhelming majority among black voters and Hispanic voters. The white voters voted decisively in favour of John McCain. The Southern States voted for John McCain. The Klu Klux Klan has done everything except issue a death warrant against Barack Obama.
No, not much has changed in the ethos of American culture. It has become a more politically correct community in speech and deed, but still remains deeply engrained in white supremacy thoughts. It has been a long journey over the last 200 years for people of colour in America, there is a man of colour who will soon take up residence in the White House, but the journey continues. As does the struggle for equality. Not in law, but in thought. A thought and a belief that one day people will be judged not by the colour of their skin (or, in the case of India, the faith they follow), but by the content of their character.
Yes, we can.
Let us remember Martin Luther King’s words which were uttered in a different context, at a different time, but are timeless in their message – “the fierce urgency of now.”
Yes, we can.
