MLK Day- Opportunity Over Outcome

I observed MLK day by going to a MLK celebration at Miller Auditorium at Western Michigan University. I have never been to an MLK celebration and I suppose I have taken MLK's teachings for granted for many years. This particular celebration reminded me that MLK did not just fight for blacks, but for equal rights for all. He did not take color, physical ability, gender, race, background into account when he made his "I have a dream speech". He simply stated "judged on content of their character, not the color of their skin". I could not agree more. Many more opportunities have opened up to people of a minority population, I am not talking about blacks alone, I am talking about people with disabilities, Chinese, Japanese, African, African-American, women, and white men in some situations. I don't care if you are purple, equality in opportunities must be stressed.

With all that being said I am discouraged when I hear some people stress outcomes not opportunities. Allow me to illustrate. I read some discouraging statistics in the MLK handout at the celebration, 1) There are more black men in prison than in college. 2) There are more black men in Jackson State Prison than in all of Michigan's colleges put together. 3) 70% of all black babies are born to single mothers. The list went on. I can't believe I saw such statistics printed at a MLK celebration. These are outcomes, not opportunities. MLK stressed EQUAL OPPORTUNITY for all, not equal outcomes for all. Stressing equal outcomes would be communistic. Lets examine these statistics in a factual sense 1) Equal opportunity to obey the law and enjoy the freedoms America offers within legal parameters. Outcome, people who break the law run the risk of having certain freedoms taken away, i.e. put in jail. 3) Equal opportunity to abstain from sex until marriage or use birth control. Outcome, pregnancy can only occur when a egg is fertilized, the act of sex greatly increases the chance of an egg coming into contact with sperm. More unprotected sex=more pregnancies.

My point, to truly celebrate MLK and the rights he fought for, we should focus on equal opportunities for all, not statistical outcomes. If we do focus on statistical outcomes, they do not truly show how a certain race is being cheated out of opportunities.

Very few people get success handed to them on a silver platter, no matter what color they are. It takes a lot of work to get what you want in the world today. I am not so blind to see that some people start further ahead than others just from the situation they are born into. That is out of any one's control other than the man and woman who make the baby.

I have plenty of friends of every ability and culture, some are smarter, funnier, taller, shorter, more confident, and shier than others. Non of them fit those adjectives simply because of the color of their skin. I don't look at a black man in jail and think he is their because he is black any more than I look at a black doctor and think he became a Dr. simply because of his skin (or despite his skin). They both reached an outcome by pursuing certain opportunities.

If we take care of insuring equal opportunities, it is every person's individual responsibility to take care of their outcome. I truly feel that a five year old white boy and a five year old Chinese boy and a five year old black boy can go into a public school and each receive the same opportunity to be educated. How much they learn is dependent on the individual. How much they learn is an outcome, that can not be controlled by any one but the individual as long as the opportunity is there.

Is there still discrimination in America? Yes, too much, any discrimination is too much. But there is a lot more paranoia about discrimination than actual acts of discrimination. Lets put a little more focus on equal opportunities and how we use opportunities than equal outcome.