Well its that time of year again…its that time of year when every body who is anybody, except the most rabid of racists, anoint the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr to near godlike status.

Make no mistake about it Dr. King was a truly inspirational figure whose actions and leadership were pivotal during the civil rights movement, but was just a man. Generally only dictatorships and monarchies celebrate the birthdays of individuals. Alone, King was nothing more than an eloquent speaker. The success of the civil rights era was the result of the tireless efforts of many unknowns and hard working individuals and many eloquent speakers, not just one man, is it appropriate in a republic such as ours to relegate one individual to almost divine stature? Why not recognize the King Holiday in deference to civil rights in general rather than one individual? Can one seriously argue than King’s efforts were more important to the rights of all Americans than Harriet Tubman or Elizabeth Cady Stanton or Frederick Douglas? Thousands of Americans have labored for our freedom yet King is honored, while others are forgotten why?

Indeed, many of the fossils of the civil rights era use King’s image to promote their own questionable agendas, which serve only to sully the image of King. Indeed during yesterday’s King celebrations around the country many participants noted the need to focus on new rights that should be the focus of carrying on MLK’s dream, principal among these new “rights” is the right to a job.

Does every American have a “right” to a job? Hardly, indeed some of us are too inept to hold any job. Every American has a right to put forth the necessary effort to achieve through the sweat of their own labor not through the hand outs of others or through the use of the government’s police power.

Over and over again, on Monday, we heard how King’s dream had yet to be fulfilled, this is in error. If by King’s dream we mean a paternalistic society in which individual responsibility has been abolished and citizens are little more than wards of the state, then yes the dream has not been fulfilled, but if by King’s dream we mean every American has an opportunity to succeed or fail in life, regardless of race, then yes the dream has most certainly been fulfilled, unfortunately for some, race has been used as a crutch to justify inaction or as part of an effort to create a feudal society, with our loyalty beholden to political patrons thanks to the promise of further government handholding.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/01/15/king.holiday.ap/index.html