Did Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Dream Come True?, Op-ed

In recent days, thousands of Americans have flocked to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington for Freedom and Jobs, led by civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his iconic speech "I Have a Dream".

At the same place- Lincoln Memorial- crowds gathered to remember King's struggle, chanting slogans against hatred and racial discrimination, considering the day, when King delivered his speech to be a turning point in the history of the civil rights movement and human rights.

Americans still remember the message of Dr. King, even after all this time. They did not remember other people who fought against racism, nor black statesmen who reached the highest levels of responsibility, such as President Obama. Instead, they remembered a brilliant man who gave people in their time something to believe in.

On August 28, 1963, 250,000 people from all over the United States (US) gathered in the National Mall in Washington, D.C. to hear Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech. There was no internet at the time, and Dr. King's followers did not send out 250,000 invitations. Instead, this gifted man was able to rally all of these people to a specific place and time because he was inspiring and trusted by everyone.

Sixty years ago, Reverend King delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, in which he expressed his desire to see a bright future where blacks and whites would coexist freely and equally. His speech was a rallying cry that accompanied the struggle of African Americans for their rights during the turbulent sixties, which were marked by the Vietnam War, the assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King himself in April 1968.

Reverend King was a gifted orator. He spoke about the ideas he believed in in a clear and concise way, using carefully chosen words that hit the nail on the head: "I have a dream... I have a dream... I have a dream." He made others say to themselves: "We are safe... We are safe... We are safe."

In his speech, Dr. King said: "There are two types of laws: just laws and unjust laws. A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. ... Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust, because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality."

His words were a summary of the civil rights that were brought by all international declarations in the field of human rights. They addressed whites and blacks alike. And whoever attended his speech or heard it later could not help but find in it ideas that he must believe in, so it was a means of reminding and awakening instincts. He delivered a "I Have a Dream" speech, not a "I Have a Plan" speech.

People heard King's words and they touched their hearts. The audience adopted them and loved them because they believed in them, and they passed them on to everyone, so they became national.

But did King's dream come true? No! His dream is still out of reach, even after sixty years since his speech. It is enough to point to a report published by Citigroup a while ago to see how this discrimination between whites and blacks is still rooted in American society, and how racist policies have become an obstacle to the growth of the American economy, wasting trillions of dollars in the last two decades. Previous studies published by McKinsey Consulting have shown that "the African American earns a million dollars less than the white citizen over his lifetime."

Citigroup economists, after studying data from the Federal Reserve and the Census Bureau, noted that wage gaps "have not narrowed since the early 2000s."

The report also found that the failure of policies to combat discrimination in the workplace, over the past 20 years, has resulted in the loss of "a very large amount of $2.7 trillion that could have been added to GDP if there were no wage gaps."

I am sure that this is a lot of money that could have been, in part, used to stimulate consumption or to invest in businesses or real estate.

Economists at this banking group regret that "the United States is deprived from achieving a 0.2 percent increase in the current growth rate due to discriminatory income distribution policies."

One of the main components of American wealth comes from the value of their homes. In this regard, discrimination is very blatant. If banks are reluctant to grant mortgage loans, they are even more cautious in financing business projects and creating companies for ethnic minorities.

The American Bank estimates that if financial institutions had "dealt fairly and equitably" with African American entrepreneurs who came to ask for money to start their businesses, "this could have led to the generation of $13 trillion in additional revenue for the US economy and the creation of about 6 million jobs over the past 20 years."

In United States, we often see massive protests sparked by the death of some African Americans, such as the death of George Floyd, the unarmed citizen who died of asphyxiation under the knee of a white police officer during his arrest in Minneapolis. This always brings up the issue of racism that is deeply rooted in the country and revives the sensitive debate about the country's legacy of slavery, which is embodied in monuments that glorify the Confederate Army and are demanded by many to be removed.

When you follow such events and when you read such reports prepared by banks and serious institutions, you come to the conclusion that racism is something that is deeply rooted in American society and that these disparities based on race and color exist and will be suffered by several generations.