For the last countless amount of minutes I have been watching and listening to videos of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak. With his impeccable ability to talk and his powerful voice of reason, it has left me with an abundance of emotion and has induced a series of chills to run down my back. Dr. King’s rational force he used from the soul struck down the unjustifiable physical force that was oppressing the people of his time and, since his passing, no other man has mobilized people like he has. He had a dream in 1963 that humanity would come together and bask in the glory of freedom. That one-day society would join hands, embracing each others' differences bound together by a common loyalty. But that one day has yet to come. More than 50 years have passed since that speech and Dr. King would still be waiting to see that dream become a reality. Could we honestly sit here as a society and look Dr. King in the eyes and say all is well with discrimination, equality and the welfare of our fellow Americans? Recent events in our country do not bring support to those claims. So we as a nation need to look within ourselves and ask the question; where is the love for humanity?

This revisiting of Dr. King’s words stems from the unfortunate and tragic events that have occurred in the middle of our nation in Ferguson, Missouri. A city of 20,000 people has a story to tell that affected millions. With the capacity of today’s Internet, most people have the opportunity to research the facts of the case as well as view the constant broadcasting of the event on numerous television stations. With that, an individual can observe and learn about how the police officer approached the young man, how long the struggle for a firearm lasted or how many bullets were fired. Yet, one detail still manages to eclipse them all. 

On one fateful August night in the heart of our country, a man of the human race died. Mr. Michael Brown, an 18-year-old young adult was shot and killed by an officer of the law, Mr. Darren Wilson. One can argue it was a hate crime, one can argue it was self defense, but it must be acknowledged that one man will never again be able to breath the same air we do. Mr. Brown will never have another Thanksgiving, another Christmas, another opportunity to enjoy all the benefits this world has to offer. This has left millions in outrage, but we truly cannot be certain of what happened. The only ones that know what happened that summer evening are Mr. Michael Brown, Mr. Darren Wilson and God. No battle within the legal system is going to bring back this young man and we must understand that nothing will bring justice to these situations of violence until we learn from it! As a society we can go on and on about what is just, but when will we stop approaching matters of violence with more violence? When has killing a man, destroying another man’s property or harming another man’s family ever brought someone back from the dead? It is no secret the legal system, among many different aspects of our country, is flawed. Will justice truly ever be gained through our legal system? In the eyes of many, justice was not reached in the extensive legal battle that was encountered last year regarding a case of Mr. Trayvon Martin and Mr. George Zimmerman.

As a society, it is irresponsible and disrespectful to equate these two cases of violence. To see posts on Facebook, Twitter and other social media applications connecting the two are hard on the heart. These were instances where two separate young adults were killed, with two separate men accused, and multiple differing variables in both situations. If we would like to assume both situations are the same, we might as well compare and bring up the cases in Scottsboro, Alabama in 1931, the trials of the Los Angeles Police Department in 1992 and the OJ Simpson trial in 1994. All of these include some sort of racial aspect along with violence in the investigations. However, these are all different instances with different individuals. And still, these are the ones society indulges on. We fail to bring up the hundreds and thousands of cases in Brooklyn, Detroit, Chicago or Oakland that see many of our young ones fall lifeless to the pavement. Putting these things in perspective, we might start acknowledging that we in fact have let Dr. King down in his quest for freedom, equality and peace.

Dr. King taught from the Bible. He used many lessons he learned from that book within his speeches and actions. He centered many of his values and opinions on Jesus Christ, who is revered as the greatest teacher of all time. Dr. King’s role model was known to make analogies and relate concepts to topics the people of his time could understand. So Dr. King would do the same and he could appreciate this next comparison.

Our United States is one big enormous farm. It is made up of many different crops with many different values and with many different uses. Every crop has individual characteristics, but every crop needs the same things. They must be given the appropriate amount of water, they must intake a quality amount of sunlight, and must be protected by any incoming invader. Sometimes these invaders do not come from a foreign land, but are instigated within the farm. A pest might affect one plant, then another, and then soon a whole field has this problem in the form of a plague. Shortly an entire farm can become polluted and these crops no longer reach their full potential, nor do they serve their purpose in life. They may still grow, but they are not as strong as they could possibly be and this pest inhibits their performance in their lifetime. This pest in the real United States is the lack of love within humanity.

Each of us is a crop. We all have different features, come from different backgrounds and aspire to have different careers. Like a crop gets water, we get our basic needs in food, shelter and clothing. Some may receive more water or have greater amounts of this capital, but the majority of us get enough to survive. As for the sunshine, it correlates with our civil rights as humans. Our rights are something we take for granted, don’t think about and at times can seem unseen, like the sun. Without these rights though, we would be left in the darkness and would not be able to develop as individuals. Then comes the pest into this equation. The pest that has come and infiltrated our great nation is hate, discrimination and the lack of compassion for one another. It is spread through the usage of despicable, slanderous words and further perpetuated by acts of violence in the name of revenge and injustice. I do not for one moment condone the actions of protesters in Ferguson, Missouri, but I do sympathize with them as that is the only way they know how to react; it is their cry for help. The people of that community feel so insecure by the actions of others that they must take it into their own hands, violence or not. We must now acknowledge this as a problem in our country, that this pest of discrimination and inequality exists. We must look to eradicate this pest for our country that promotes freedom, as all men are created equal.

The Declaration of Independence states these liberties. It reads that man may have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. However, we do not practice what we preach. We have these lofty ideals and standards, yet we look down upon others because they are different. Society labels us and says we are white, black, brown, yellow and so on. I cannot tell you what color I am. It depends on how much sun I’ve gotten recently, because I do not personally associate with a color. I do not associate with a race either, because in my opinion we are from the same race and that is human. We are all different, but we are under one roof, one home. The quicker we realize we have a problem with discrimination and its prevalence, the sooner we can remedy this pest. Like a farmer sprays pesticides on his crop, we must educate the new generations and pave a path for others to follow and not make the same mistakes. Like Dr. King, I too have a dream. I have a dream that I hope my children will be blind. Not in the eyes, but in the heart. That they will have unconditional love for the humans around them and accept people for the integrity of their character. The dream that they will see color for what it is; a beautiful variation in the creation of man and woman. This dream is a dream that starts within. We must take heed to what has gone on in recent past and learn from it. We must be the change we want to see in society today and not waste another second. It is on us, as fellow Americans and citizens of this world, to make an impact. If we continue down these paths of unrighteousness with discrimination, we will never truly live up to the guidelines that doctrine this country. We will continue to live a lie and contradict the idea that America is the land of freedom. Right now America is the land of the free on paper and not free in the hearts. Society has made us forget humanity and has spread hate like the plague that it is. Fortunately, all is not lost. With the remedy of a pesticide, crops can come back and flourish just as perfect as before. With the education of our people and the new generations to come, our nation can be as strong as ever. This remedy is a dream unless we make it a reality. Make this a reality by not having another young man die in vain. Make our actions after the tragedy in Ferguson change so we can begin to restore our faith in humanity and obtain true integrity. The real justice for these actions would be the dream come true for Dr. King, that all men are created and treated as equal.