Unitarian Universalist Church at Washington Crossing

Of course, we are not in a post racial world yet; we are such a long way from anything like it. But, we can dream can’t we? Or, can we? Have we become so extremely skeptical as a country that we can no longer dream or imagine what the world could just possibly be like?

Martin Luther King, Jr. lived, ministered as a civil rights leader and died a martyr during a time that was very dark with discrimination, racism and the violence of the Vietnam War. Yet, he dared to dream, to dream of a world where his four little children would one day live in a nation where they would not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. He dreamt that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners would be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.

Martin Luther King, Jr. dared to dream of such a world knowing that he, like Moses in the Hebrew scripture, would probably die before his people reached the Promised Land. Have we become so skeptical that we cannot dream as he dared to dream? Did the dream die with him, this man who believed in non-violence to the point of being willing to die a violent death for the cause of civil and economic rights?

On August 28, 1963, – 45 years ago – when Barack Obama was two-years-old, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and proclaimed his dream for the United States of America. In two days, on January 20, 2009, in front of the U.S. Capitol, Barack Obama will take the oath of office to become the President of the United States of America.

One of my Unitarian Universalist colleagues the Reverend James Kubal-Komoto enjoys playing with numbers. He figured out the following, “From the Lincoln Memorial across the National Mall to the steps of the U.S. Capitol is a distance of 1.9 miles. It will have taken forty-five years, four months, and twenty-three days for us as a nation to make the journey from one historic spot to the other. If you’re curious, that’s a speed of 7 inches per day, a seemingly glacially slow speed, but because of (the dreams) the hope, courage, perseverance, and patience of so many, and their willingness to continue to put one foot in front of the other, it has been a journey that has been possible within some people’s lifetimes.”

Not, unfortunately during the lifetimes of Martin Luther King, Jr. or his wife Correta Scott King. No, I know that we have not reached a Post Racial World, not yet. But, ours is now a country where a liberal biracial man with the Arabic name Barack Hussein Obama was elected president. That does mean we have made progress as a people. Not everyone voted for him, but the majority of those who did not vote for him wish him the best as our new president.

As the Rapper Jay-Z said at an Obama rally in Cleveland, “Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama is running so we all can fly.” I sincerely believe that the people of our country, be they Democrat, Republican, Independent or something else,take considerable joy in the fact that our nation has overcome some of our historical racial biases.

Clearly, institutional racism is alive and well. Clearly, individual racial bigotry continues to exist. Blacks remain underrepresented in many places, especially on Madison Avenue. A report, Research Perspectives on Race and Employment in the Advertising Industry, showed that only 5.3 percent of managers and professionals at agencies in 2008 were black, and that 5.3 percent earn 80 cents for each dollar earned by their white counterparts.

No, we have not overcome race as a factor. Still, things are very different today. Let us remember that the racism and the violence in the 60’s and before is not ancient history. Yet, in two days a family of color will occupy the White House.

Paul C. Taylor, professor of philosophy of race at Temple College of Liberal Arts said, “A black first lady is an even more revolutionary development than a black president. The first lady is, as her title suggests, a national icon for femininity, for good or for ill. But the American public’s ideas about black women is much more likely to be shaped by Beyonce than by California congresswoman Barbara Lee. The ascension of Michelle Obama to the role of America’s first lady is a real cultural shift.”

Let us never forget the dreams of Martin Luther King, Jr.. Let us never be so skeptical that we cannot have our own dreams, dreams of the world we wish to build for the children of today. What kind of world do we want for them in 2030 or 2050? King was talking about trust when he said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” We do not know where the future leads us. Can we have that sort of faith and trust in one another, in the human community, in the arc of the universe?

Martin Luther King, Jr. used the words of the 18th century Unitarian Minister Theodore Parker often saying that the, “arc of the moral universe is long and bends towards justice.” He got that phrase from a white Unitarian Minister from the 1850’s. Theodore Parker is a personal hero of mine. He was a personal hero of many freed black slaves in the 1850’s. He was an activist in the abolitionist movement who worked for justice in many other areas. He was also one of those who never gave up his dreams of a better world.

My friend and colleague Reverend Rosemary Bray McNatt at Fourth Universalist in Manhatten talked with Correta King some years back about possibly writing a book about her. When Rosemary told her that she was a Unitarian and Correta said, “Oh, I went to Unitarian churches for years, even before I met Martin,… And Martin and I went to Unitarian churches when we were in Boston.” Correta also said that she and Martin even considered becoming Unitarian, but that is another story and another sermon.

What will history record of our time? Will it say that we were too skeptical to dream of a better world and to skeptical to work for a better, more just and peaceful world? I hope it will not show what Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

Let us not be silent during these exciting and challenging times. Theodore Parker talked about the arc of the moral universe being long and bending toward justice in the 1860’s. King. not only repeated the claim in the 1960’s, that the “arc of the moral universe is long and bends towards justice,” but he dedicated his life to helping bend that arc closer to earthly justice. Now in 2009, we need dedicated dreamers who are willing to dream of a better world.

Yes, we need to be able to dream of such a world. Then, we need to step out and help create our dreams through personal sacrifice, struggle and maybe suffering. Let us put our moral weight to the task of bending the arc of the moral universe towards justice.

Cornel West wrote, “There’s something about American folk. They’re so obsessed with comfort, convenience, and contentment.” Human progress is not made by content and comfortable people. Moral progress is made when people are willing to dream and to work for a world with peace, liberty and justice for all.

This is your altar call. Are you willing to take action in your own life, in that of your family, your local community, and in our nation on the important issues that we face today? If you are, allow yourself to dream of a better more just world. If you are, commit yourself to the work of building a better more just world.