HispanicVista Columnists
I Had a Dream Nightmare
- By Bill Dahl/HispanicVista.com
- April 18, 2005
I have an ongoing nightmare that I must share with you.
Nine score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of captivity. But one hundred-forty years later, we must face the tragic fact that the millions of U.S. residents are still not free.
One hundred-forty years later, the life of the resident, undocumented immigrant is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred-forty years later, the undocumented immigrant in the U.S. lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred-forty years later, the undocumented immigrant is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in this, the Promised Land.
So we have come here today to dramatize an appalling condition. In a sense we have come to our nation's conscience to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every immigrant hopeful of U.S. citizenship was to fall heir.
This note was a promise that all men would be guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her residents of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the undocumented immigrant population a bad check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.
So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed moment to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit paths of citizenship and racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksand’s of racial and immigration injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of the resident, undocumented immigrant. This sweltering summer of the resident immigrants legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three was not an end, but a beginning. Two thousand five is no different. Those who hope that the resident, undocumented immigrants will refrain from blowing off steam and be silent and content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the resident, undocumented immigrant is granted his citizenship rights.
The repercussions of oppression will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.
The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the undocumented immigrant community must not lead us to distrust all citizens, for many of our citizen brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny and their freedom is inextricably bound to our equality.
We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil and human rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain legitimate employment in the hallways of American commerce and equal access to the classrooms of higher education. We cannot be satisfied as long as the undocumented immigrant’s basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a resident, undocumented immigrant in California cannot obtain a drivers license and an immigrant desiring citizenship in New York is confined by the belief that he has no where to travel without fear of apprehension. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until the justice contained within the reservoir of systematic immigration reform rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from jobs that pay you less than minimum wage for long hours. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of unthinkable discrimination. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Yet, I had a dream nightmare last night.
I went back to California, to Arizona, to Texas, to Colorado, to Georgia.
I went back to the barrios and neighborhoods of our cities where the unconscionable horrors of the oppression of the children of undocumented immigrants remains a blight on the soul of this Nation, knowing that somehow this situation remains unchanged.
I am ashamed that we have allowed God’s children to continue to wallow in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I have a dream nightmare. It is a nightmare deeply rooted in the American dream that yet remains to be fully realized.
I had a dream nightmare that this nation will not rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I had a dream nightmare that one day in the green fields of the San Fernando Valley the sons of former farm workers and the sons of former farm owners will be not be able to sit down together at a table of brotherhood.
I had a dream nightmare that one day in the employment marketplace of greater Los Angeles that the daughters of former retail, factory and service workers and the daughters of former retail, factory and service firm owners will not be able to look at one another as citizens of equal stature in the eyes of the INS, DMV, IRS and Social Security authorities.
I had a dream nightmare that one day in this country that graduation from high school shall mean that the students will not have equal opportunity to pursue their God given hopes and talents in institutions of higher education, the workforce, and this culture by equal access based upon erasing the institutionalized inequities in our nations immigration laws.
I had a dream nightmare that one day even the state of Arizona, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression for Latinos, will not be transformed into an oasis of freedom, equality and justice. I have a nightmare that all children will never live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, the language of their country of origin or the absence of a Social Security card, but by the content of their character.
I am suffering from the after-effects of a traumatic dream nightmare today.
I have a habitual dream nightmare that one day the state of California, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of insensitivity and indifference, will not be transformed into a situation where little undocumented Latino boys, Asian children and Persian girls will be able to join hands with little boys and girls who are citizens and walk together as sisters and brothers pursuing their hopes for a better future for this nation as equals.
I had a recurring dream nightmare today. I had a dream nightmare that the children of undocumented immigrants will not be found legally innocent of the illegal immigration decision of their parents. I have a persistent dream nightmare today.
I had an incessant dream nightmare that this nation will not remove the blindfold of feigned ignorance and confront the sins that veiled self righteousness have attempted to obscure from our conscience.
I have an ongoing dream nightmare.
I had an unmerciful dream nightmare that one day very soon that the DREAM Act shall not be re-introduced and passed by the United States Congress whereby the children of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. shall be afforded the opportunity to become citizens of this great nation, as they so desperately deserve.
I have an unrelenting dream nightmare. I had a dream nightmare that the day will not arrive when every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
I had a vivid dream nightmare that these horrors shall continue to infect the soul of this nation, unnecessarily calling the character and credibility of our great nation into question in the eyes of the entire world.
I Have A Dream! As a citizen of this great nation, I know we can do better than this. We must do better than this. We shall do better than this. This is my hope. This is the faith with which I return to my community. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free of legalized oppression one day.
I Have A Dream! This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
I Have A Dream! And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true. So let freedom ring from the poverty wracked neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Let freedom ring from the boroughs of New York. Let freedom ring from the sweltering state of Arizona. Let freedom ring from the mid-western states! Let freedom ring from the Governors Office in California! But not only that; let freedom ring from every community in every border state! Let freedom ring from every southern state! Let freedom ring from every street in Santa Ana, California. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Latino men, Asian men, Middle Eastern men, black men, brown men, yellow men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants, Muslims, and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! free at last! thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
I Have A Dream! That this nation shall awaken from its’ insensitive slumber, and become reinvigorated by the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Speech By Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Revised and reprinted without permission.
http://www.mecca.org/~crights/dream.html
Delivered on the steps at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963. Source: Martin Luther King, Jr: The Peaceful Warrior, Pocket Books, NY 1968
About the Author:
Bill Dahl, a contributing columnist to HispanicVista.com (http://www.hispanicvista.com/) is a freelance writer, social justice advocate and activist. Bill is published in several professional publications, magazines, websites, newspapers and newsletters. He has been an on-air guest on FOX radio in Los Angeles, CA. He is the author of five manuscripts, presently under consideration for publication. Bill earned a Bachelors and Masters degree at Washington State University. He has taught at the university and community college level. He has been a Vice-President with Chrysler, Bank of America and GMAC. He has extensive public speaking experience and has led seminars throughout the United States. Contact Bill at: wsdahl@pacbell.net or see his website at http://www.justjesus.us/
Copyright © 2005 by Bill Dahl. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author. All rights reserved. Rights for publishing this article, in part or its entirety, in other languages, audio and any other form are contracted to Bill Dahl.
Requests for permission to make copies of or transmit, reprint any part of this work should be sent to to: Bill Dahl, wsdahl@pacbell.net