"Unite, NOT Divide"

This week, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., will be remembered all across America. Dr. King is the man who is most identified with America’s Civil Rights Movement. He gave the ultimate sacrifice when James Earl Ray took his life with an assassin’s bullet. This tragedy is remembered as deeply as the murders of JFK, RFK and Abraham Lincoln.

In days following Dr. King’s murder, America erupted into riots, many cities were turned into areas of fire and violence; businesses were destroyed and parts of America were turned into “war zones”. In Chicago, Mayor Richard J. Daley said to the police “If you see someone with a fire bomb, shoot to maim or kill.” Those were extremely dark days in America’s history.

We need to celebrate Dr. King as the man who “held the mirror” to America’s face to reveal the wrongs that long remained unspoken in our society.

Today, there some who say they are carrying on the work of Dr. King, yet they seem to be “dividers” instead of “uniters” in the cause of American brotherhood.

Al Sharpton has become an “icon of Black racism”, as he finds racism under every tree and stone in America. To “Reverend” Sharpton, every situation is related to some racist motive, yet he seldom condemns the consistent “Black on Black” crime that decimates America’s Black community. The “Reverend” has cried racism so regularly it seems that is the only word in his vocabulary. Al Sharpton has done more to polarize the racial problems in America rather than trying to bring Americans together.

The “Reverend” Jesse Jackson is another voice who claims to be following in Dr. King’s footsteps. Perhaps fifty years ago his motives were pure, but today he has become a purveyor of rancor and hatred toward any person who holds a belief that doesn’t coincide with his. If you don’t agree with Jesse Jackson, you are almost assuredly going to be called a “racist” by either Mr. Jackson or someone from his entourage. Mr. Jackson has tried to interfere with private businesses, professional sports organizations and the entertainment industry in the guise of working for “civil rights”, even when his motives seemed more financial than existential. It seems Mr. Jackson is looking out for “No. 1”, more than the oppressed masses. Mr. Jackson loves power and influence and he wields it ruthlessly toward his opponents.

Are these two men the examples that the Black community should emulate?

I have three names I would like to present to the American Black community: Allen West, Herman Cain and Dr. Ben Carson.

These men are men who have achieved great success without ever trying to blame their problems on someone else. They all have tremendous backgrounds as overcomers of adversity; all of them revere the works of Martin Luther King, Jr. and all are conservative in their political philosophy.

These men are conspicuously absent from the speeches of Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, as Mr. Sharpton and Mr. Jackson are “far left” liberals and would rather “slash their wrists” then say anything good about a conservative Black man.

Aren’t these men the living embodiment of Dr. King’s philosophy? These men have succeeded in America’s society on their own merit. They showed the power of self-determination and hard work that is the cornerstone of all American success stories.

Dr. King wanted equal rights, not preferred rights, not free rides to success.

Remember Dr. King this week, and remember that he never expected a “free ride” to success, just as Allen West, Herman Cain and Dr. Ben Carson continue to believe; they are the examples to be emulated, that are the achievers.