By Diego M. Ortiz
This African American history month I would like to remember Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous 1963 “I have a dream speech” and to look at it his speech, and his words, in the context and framework of a new civil rights issue: immigration reform and specifically the DREAM ACT.
In the 1950’s and 60’s, leaders from across the country followed King’s teaching about non-violent protest as a means to gain social change.
King, who won a Nobel Peace for his non-violent demonstrations, was determined to continue his protests because as he said “There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until each person is granted his citizenship rights.”
King was asking for the right to justice as it is written in the Declaration of Independence and in the Constitution’s Bill of Rights.
His protests were led and organized by students, children, teachers, and ministers who created congresses and joined together, organized under the same banner; the banner of freedom earned through a campaign of non-violent protests and by exercising their first amendment right to assemble.
King told his audience on that August day in 1963 that “in the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds.”
He asked of them, “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”
Instead, King suggested “Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”
These words used by King himself made me think of the DREAM ACT and the millions of individuals and families affected by the current state of immigration policy.
But above all, his words force me to think of the children who are innocent victims of those policies.
For those who don’t know, the DREAM ACT, is a bill that if passed would put undocumented youth on track to citizenship by giving them a 6 year legal residency.
During those 6 years, the student would need to graduate from a two-year college or complete two years toward a four-year degree, or serve in the military for at least two years.
If they graduate or serve they are then given a permanent residency status, and eventually full citizenship.
This is a humanitarian solution that affords youth an avenue to succeed, and beyond that it gives them a sense of hope.
And hope is something we all need, because it sometimes gives us the strength to get up in the morning, to go that extra mile because we know there will be a reward for our commitment.
But, according to the New York State Youth Leadership Council, approximately 65,000 undocumented students graduate from US high schools each year. These students, who have been in the United States for the majority of their lives face limited prospects for completing their education or working legally in the US because they were brought here without immigration documents, feel no incentive to graduate.
And why would they?
If you are not documented you cannot legally work, you cannot join the armed forces, you are not eligible for financial aid, and even if a university accepts you, you will be forced to pay double or triple the normal in-state tuition.
Therefore, as of 2005 Latinos and other foreign-born students made up nearly 24 percent of the dropouts, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
And only a small fraction of undocumented students who graduate from high school go on to college.
What is surprising is that even though these students see the US as their home, the student’s dreams are deferred. Despite the fact that they arrived at a young age and identify and contribute to the community.
Instead, these students who have benefited from public education for all of their young lives are detoured away from the pathway to climb the mountainside.
And though the DREAM ACT does not focus solely on the Latino community, statistically they are the most effected.
According to a study conducted by the Pew Center on the States, one in every 36 Latino males is incarcerated and one in every 15 Black men is incarcerated.
“I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.”
Those are Dr. King’s words and they remain as true today as 42 years ago.
Center to the new dream are education, freedom, and opportunity. These are the pillars on which our nation was built upon; these are the pillars on which civilization and progress rest upon.
And hope.
How can we tell a young man or a young woman that he or she can’t earn their way when we promised to honor Dr. King’s word?
“We can never be satisfied,” King said, “as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity.”
I believe that a motivated youngster on a road to success is a powerful sight. It is a contagious energy that they exhibit.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
So, as we honor Martin Luther King Jr. and other African American leaders, let us look to their words for guidance in our contemporary civil rights issues.
Dear Diego, 