A personal view of King's dream

In the front pew at the side of the church on the Sunday before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day sat a family of five -- a mother and her four young children. The mother was white. She had three young daughters, who were also white, and a young son, who was black. I was fascinated how they seamlessly interacted with each other as if they were indeed colorblind to one another. It was particularly striking in light of the community's prayers for racial harmony in remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Daily Herald quoted King in their Monday edition on the federal holiday set aside to celebrate his life, "I have a dream that my four 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." I can't speak about King's four children, but the four children I observed were extraordinary examples of living together in a family without regard to skin color.

Of course, King had been to the heights of the mountaintop. We remain behind below the tree line in the valley. On the mountaintop, King had the clear vision to see a time, a place and a people beyond his own. In the valley, we have a limited vision with which to work out racial harmony in our own time and place. But, without making too many assumptions and based only on what I observed in church, this family had appeared to achieve the racial harmony of which King had dreamed.

As has so often been said, it will be the children who will lead us, and these children led me to a deeper reflection on the meaning of racial peace and harmony. I wondered, if I was a black child today, and lived within a white family, in the suburbs, how much I would learn about racial tolerance? I further wondered, if I were a white child today, and lived within a black family, in the inner city, how much more I would learn?

Even so, there is a difference between being colorblind in matters of race and in making reparations for a past of racial hatred and intolerance. In other words, there is a difference between doing no wrong and in doing good, in stopping the negative actions and in doing something positive. Regardless, I think when King looks down today from the mountaintop today upon families such as I recently witnessed who are living out his dream, I think he would be well pleased. And for us who remain in the valley, the content of these families' character gives us great hope.

Mark J Schumaker

Grayslake