Honor Dr. King's Dream

How many of us wish that Barack and Michelle Obama, Eric Holder, Spike Lee, Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar and other angry black Americans would heed Martin Luther King's dream of judgment based on character not on color?

The first three have incited racial strife for many years by excusing black criminals and accusing white police officers of murder when shooting blacks in the line of duty whatever the context, lecturing high school students that they will face tough times after graduating because they are black, and failing to prosecute Black Panther voting fraud.

Other examples of political racial prejudice include the incendiary antics of Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Jeremiah Wright, and Louis Farrakhan. On the entertainment front, the Academy Awards committee is labeled “racist” by Spike Lee because the 2015 nominees do not include black actors, as if race must be considered in performance judgment.

Beyonce’s militant Super Bowl musical rant against police was tasteless and inappropriate but almost farcical because she reached the stadium courtesy of a police escort that emptied highways for her and performed at a sporting event where black and white football players competed with equal skill and respect.

Kendrick Lamar's Grammy Awards appearance in prison garb with his band locked in jail cells showcases another public figure venting rage.

Much has drawn criticism, but what is missed is the fact that ballistic, self-appointed proponents for black “equality” are insulting meritorious, talented, law-abiding, and upstanding black Americans everywhere.

Making race a primary identity is tribal. If one is an American citizen, to label oneself “African-American” because blacks were brought over from Africa into the British-ruled American colonies as slaves four centuries ago is a self-demeaning group-think claim for privilege today.

Clarence Thomas is a Supreme Court judge appointed for his constitutional acumen, not an “African-American Supreme Court judge” appointed for the color of his skin. Ben Carson is a renowned surgeon running for president, not a doctor desiring to become the “second black president.”

It is possible that although of mixed race, Barack Obama won the presidency partially because he campaigned as the first “black,” but this was tribal on his part and on those voting for him because of his color.

Affirmative action, quotas, and special treatment for minority individuals are also tribal in elevating the unworthy to undeserved positions, which often creates a false, inflated self-value for recipients that can result in employment difficulties.

Additionally, these practices can cause others to wonder how every minority person got where they are — merit or special treatment? — so meritorious minority achievers may accidentally be denied proper recognition. Proponents claiming that present-day “society” owes present-day black people “social justice” in the forms of preferential privileges and placements simply because of their race actually reverses Dr. King’s dream for judgment by character content instead of color.

Character and abilities come from inner value selections and outer behavior. Responsible individuals of all colors, ethnicity, and creeds understand this and act and achieve according to their own skills. But because angry blacks demand “power” and as better qualified non-blacks are unfairly passed over for job and education positions granted to people of color, a backlash of resentment occurs.

And whom does this backlash hurt and hinder? Black individuals of responsible, respectable character and merit. Persons demanding anything on the basis of race alone inescapably proclaim that all people of this race need assistance, thus de facto undermining the legitimate status of admirable, accomplished black people by ignoring character content altogether.

These demands should be repudiated. Hollywood should not bend to Lee’s demands. Beyonce’s performances should be boycotted. President Obama and company should be held feet-to-fire for blatantly fueling criminal-cop-frenzied confrontations and causing race to become a renewed, hot subject of division among people of all persuasions.

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. . .” America endured Civil War to make this Declaration a reality for all.

Black people who demand more than equality are harming those of their race who earn their place of pride in this nation.

Black people of merit, in particular, should condemn those who portray them as oppressed, thereby disregarding their achievements and dishonoring their self respect by demanding privileges and/or supremacy over others because of race. We must be individuals first. Then, proud Americans who judge not by skin color but by character and deeds. . . and who treasure the freedom to dream.

Alexandra York is an author and founding president of the American Renaissance for the Twenty-first Century (ART) a New-York-City-based nonprofit educational arts and culture foundation. She has written for many publications, including "Reader’s Digest" and The New York Times. Her latest book is "The Innocent." For more on Alexandra York, Go Here Now.