A Temporary Season: Turning Backwards on Race Relations?

by Mike Melie @MrMelieTeach @EachandEvery

According to Senator Oren Hatch in a USA Today article about the current state of race relations in the US, “In some ways the nation has taken a step backward since [Martin Luther King] spoke against the ‘triple evils’ of poverty, racism, and militarism that he argued were an anchor on people of color as well as poor whites. At least 50 years ago we were having a national conversation about the immorality of poverty in a land of plenty…There is very little talk about the wide and growing disparity between the rich and the poor. It says something very disturbing about the country. The moral climate has declined precipitously.”

The same article states that last year, 42% of Americans — an 18-year high — said they had a “great deal” of concern about race relations. Thirty-seven percent said they were greatly concerned in the most recent Gallup survey, published last month.

50 years gone! 50 years since Dr. King was assassinated. A little over 50 years — less than one generation — since the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. This game-changing legislation banned employment discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin. Gay marriage is legalized, which is a sea change that’s pushed the country in the…