As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, we remember the passionate, inspired words of Martin Luther King Jr. and others crying out for justice and equality for all Americans.
Now, sadly, as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s awful decision declaring a key part of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional, King’s dream may not be realized. Recently North Carolina passed a series of measures that will deny many blacks their right to vote. Texas passed restrictive measures the very day the Supreme Court announced its decision.
What will happen if King’s dream of black and white Americans living as equals is not realized? Langston Hughes’ poem “A Dream Deferred” suggests several answers, none of them good. He ends with “Maybe it just sags, like a heavy load; Or does it explode?”
Ward Upson
Vancouver
