Pitt community not living King’s dream

Now that the temporal, fleeting veil of unity has come and gone, a decisive question… Now that the temporal, fleeting veil of unity has come and gone, a decisive question concerning the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. begs to be answered. Who, today, within the black community here at Pitt, is living the dream? Who is following the example he left not exclusively for blacks, but for all mankind. The answer, unfortunately, is not many.

On Jan. 19, the Black Action Society and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity mobilized scores of black folk on campus for the fourth annual candlelight vigil in memory of King’s legacy. A short biography of the life of King was read, followed by the crowd singing “We Shall Overcome” in harmony, finally leading into some food for thought, in which any and every person was invited to share a few words about what the dream meant to them. I attended the vigil with my girlfriend, Jeralyn Cave.

As I stood there listening to the pretentious words of a couple of the speakers, who shall remain nameless, I could feel nothing but disdain for the hypocrisy of some of Pitt’s black leaders. At this event, no less than half of the crowd spoke of living King’s dream.

“We’re living King’s dream, they proclaimed. “We’re bringing his dream to life,” they assured themselves, with an air of arrogance and haughtiness. This, however, is far from the truth and borders on being an outright lie.

Although Pitt undoubtedly prides itself on diversity, it cannot pride itself on the integration – or lack thereof – among its diverse population. Similar to our days in high school, the blacks sit with the blacks, the whites sit with the whites, the Asians stick together, the Jews stick together, and so on and so forth. And this is precisely where we – not only blacks, but the entire student body – have failed to effectuate the dream: in not joining hands, in King’s words, as God’s children, “black men and white men, Jews and gentiles, Protestants and Catholics.”

Let this not be taken as a scolding indictment of the black community here at Pitt, but rather as a glimpse of the reality in which we live. Holidays have the power of deluding the keenest of observers, letting them see things that are not there.

Therefore, in the aftermath of King’s holiday and memory, we should not delude ourselves into thinking that King’s prophetic words have come to pass. No, God’s children have not joined hands. No, black men, white men, Jews and gentiles do not sing the old Negro spiritual in unison.

King was not a separatist by any means. He did not suggest that blacks separate from white America to live independently; rather, he favored joining together under the umbrella of humanity and American citizenship that binds this great nation together. This is evidenced by the many sit-ins he and his followers performed during the Civil Rights Movement.

Knowing these things, how can we possibly say with such confidence that we are living the dream? In a day and age when blacks, whites, and other racial groups are just as socially divided as they have always been – albeit without violent confrontation – King’s desires are still but a dream.

I challenge readers to examine themselves. How many friends outside of your own race do you have? Does interracial dating disturb you? Does the group you belong to on campus encourage and foster interaction between groups whose membership is largely of another race? Does your black fraternity or sorority host joint events with white fraternities and sororities? For many of us, the answer to these questions is a resounding no. And, until it can be an unflinching, unwavering yes, we will not be living the dream.

Smile, it’s a beautiful life. E-mail Lawrence Crockett at lsc4@pitt.edu.