I’ve been told racism still exists.  I’m not sure why I’ve been told this or reminded of this.  When this info has been passed on to me it’s come in one of two forms.  The first is almost a whisper, like some special secret.  Almost as if the teller is letting me in on something only a few are privileged to know.   I nod in return in a manner that lets them understand just how grateful I am to now be part of some inner circle.

The other times it’s from someone acting as the town crier.  All that’s missing is a soap box and megaphone.  When this happens I search for the nearest exit or other means of escape, but sadly they aren’t easily accessible and I’m trapped.  I’m part of a captive audience and not because I find the person captivating.   Truth is I knew the possibility existed when I joined the assembly that the sermon might degenerate into a cry about the current state of racism but I took the building at face value when it claimed to be a church.  I may have turned around if the service program handed out by the ushers had NAACP in bold letters at the top.

Life would be a lot better if both cases never happened to me again.  No, I’m not saying I’d rather live life blind to the realities of the world around me.  Don’t be so silly.  Likewise, it’s not that I don’t need people telling me racism still exists because I’m faced with it every waking moment of every day.

I don’t need it because in a world where people are free to think as they please, are free to form opinion based or not based on facts, there will be those who have a negative opinion on certain issues, places, events, and people.  It’s called prejudice and we all have it.

If offered to pick from a basket of fruits you may tend to pick one more than the others.  Some people avoid broccoli not because of some allergy but just because they don’t like it.  My favorite color is red.   I’m not so much into blues.  I know, I know — I’m a terrible person.

Though I’m not ignorant to the existence of racism, I also make sure I’m never a Dream Killer.  I see them every day.  Maybe you have too?

I spoke to a lot of Dream Killers when I was single and gave online dating a try.  After the initial email exchanges generally comes the phone calls.  You cannot imagine how many conversations, in one form or another,  included this accusation, “Are you a white guy? Because you sound white.”  I still laugh at this one when I think about it.  I have no idea how to “sound” black, white, or anything else.  I can sound uneducated though.   It’s hard, but if I focus, I can butcher my grammar and through in some “We was…” or “It don’t…” or “Mine’s is…” but that’s the best I can do and in my personal experience isn’t race specific.

Another group of Dream Killers I’ve come across is a new group to me because I haven’t been a parent until relatively recently.  As one, I’ve gotten to know others.   Trust me, there are some Dream Killer parents out there.  They just don’t know it.  When a parent proudly tells me how they found a doctor or other “respected” professional and did so to show their kids how they too can aspire to greatness, I see a Dream Killer.  Why?  Because someone fed that person the notion that they couldn’t achieve themselves.  When you feel you have to find some sort of example for your children then this sort of thread is woven in everything you say or do.  Kids are like sponges.  They pick up on the smallest of details.  I’ve often in who’s reality is an entity telling kids, “No.  You can never <insert aspiration> because you’re <insert race/religion/sexual orientation>.”

Today, we honor one of greatest dreamers this nation has ever had.  We are all very fortunate Marin Luther King Jr shared his dream with the nation and the world.  To make his dream a reality requires us all to stop thinking we still live in the 60′s.  Stop killing the dreams others and our children have today and tomorrow.