Nurture the Dream

At a time when the walls which divide human beings are being pushed higher and topped liberally with the broken shards of hateful rhetoric, it’s comforting to be reminded that there are those among us who envision and actively pursue a better world. It’s only regrettable that such a person has to die before we are reminded that the world is what we make of it, and that we can make it far better than what it is.

Amidst the din of angry shouting between groups, each holding firmly onto the absurd notion that it can cajole and intimidate the other to do as it wants, while simultaneously assuring itself that it will not be cajoled or intimidated into doing what the other wants, it’s nice to hear the words of someone who holds the notion that human affairs should proceed through mutual respect and understanding, not intimidation and murder.

Far, far too many regard civil rights in the narrowest sense, as the carping demand of groups (minorities) who seek to have something others (the majority) don’t. In fact, civil rights refers to the basic respect and human dignity due to all people. And the reason a seemingly growing number of groups demand their civil rights is because so many people in society have been denied this basic respect and dignity.
It is a proper time to honor the memory of an individual who devoted her life to the cause of furthering the awareness that all people are deserving of civil rights in the broadest sense. And that these human rights are to be attained through courage and knowledge, not through threats and violence.

As an aside, while watching a program on television the other night which dealt with the rescue of several human beings overcome by fatal gasses. The story was set in Cleveland in the early part of the last century. The men had been digging a tunnel under Lake Erie about five miles from shore, in order to bring fresh water to the city. Suddenly there was an explosion and the tunnel filled with noxious fumes. Two rescue parties were immediately sent into the tunnel, only to be overcome by the gasses themselves. It was only through the energetic and courageous intercession of a local inventor that the men were finally pulled from the tunnel. The man was Garrett Augustus Morgan. The fact that he was an African-American should be no surprise. Courage and genius have no regard for the color of a person’s skin. What is a sad surprise is how many people are still woefully unaware of this truth. Sadder still are those who insist upon denying it.