We shall overcome,
We shall overcome, someday,
Oh, deep in my heart, I do believe,
We shall overcome, someday.
We Shall overcome.....
Obviously, "someday" isn't here yet. We still have a mountain to climb to get to the place Dr. and Mrs. King fought for -- a place of harmony, equality, and peace, where there is no poverty. Maybe we can't get to that ideal at all in this world, though that's no reason not to try. "A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" said Browning. But one thing I always find, when I'm climbing a physical mountain is that when I'm panting and tired, and the peak is a long way off, it helps to look back and see how far I've come. And we have come some way; for just one example, we wouldn't be seeing backlash against affirmative action if the results hadn't been enough to scare some people. And whatever you think of Colin Powers, the fact that he's where he is, that his position is such that his disagreement with Shrub over affirmative action made national news this morning, can only be progress. That didn't happen the year I was born, and I'm not that old.
We'll walk hand in hand.....
This one has happened, at least where I live, in the most literal sense. I see all combinations of blacks, whites, Asians and Latinos walking hand in hand every time I walk through my local mall (the only place people actually walk around here). From my experiences with my own parents' reaction when I dated an Asion guy in college, not to mention some of the odd looks we got now and then (though never on campus) I can only think things have changed. It may be just geographical, but I hope not. On the other hand, while segregation is no longer de jure, it's clear there's a long way to go until it's no long de facto in some areas. Teenagers may hold hands, but in many places, small children still can't.
We shall live in peace.....
Nope, not this century either. Though at least this morning I was heartened to hear that diplomats on both sides are still at least trying to evade war with Iraq. And the North and South Koreans have been talking. But there's still Israel, and Ireland seems to be backsliding lately. Pakistan is worrying me, and I don't think we've had a President so inclined to consider war a Good Thing since Teddy Roosevelt. And even he changed his mind after a few of his sons were killed in battle.
We shall not be moved.....
Hah. There are still those who have not moved on their positions or budged from their fights, and blessings on them all. And then there are those who once stood with them, and who fought the accumulated wrongs of society, and who then aged a little and gained a little power and began voting and speaking on the basis of a new platform: "I Got Mine." There are those who turned on their once-brothers when they began to follow where conscience led. (I'm thinking here of some allegations I recently read against Louis Farrakhan -- never one of my heroes anyway, for reasons that may be obvious.) There are those who walk the halls of power and forget the people who scrub the floors of those halls -- I see them every day in real life as well as on the news. We could use a little more inflexibility.
We shall overcome.....
Deep in my heart, I do still believe. I do.