How society would be different if Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was still alive
The assassination of certain key figures in history has served as a wake-up call to society. The world was not entirely ready to assimilate the higher ideals of mentors such as Martin Luther King, Mahatma Ghandi, Lincoln and John F. Kennedy. Had we been ready to implement what they stood for without the shock of their deaths, would some higher power have spared these great leaders’ lives? We may not ever know, but one thing is certain: humanity, as a whole, needed a wake-up call each time we lost one of them.
Whether or not they led impeccably saintly lives, they all stood and still stand for something great: civil rights, nonviolence, peace, etc. It seems that their untimely, tragic deaths contributed to the spreading and assimilation of what they stood for. This is a pity – why couldn’t society embrace their lofty ideals on the same scale without their reaching the status of martyrdom first? Why did society need such a wake-up call?
What if these luminaries still walked amongst us, alive and well? Of course they still are with us – in spirit. But what if they were available to make public appearances, answer phone calls and letters, shake hands and take pleasure in seeing the fruits of their labor and mentorship up close? What if they were present with us to celebrate the achievements and great advances society has made as a result of their influence? Would we forget the reason we honor them in the first place?
Imagine Martin Luther King visiting our schools, guest-speaking at Universities, teleconferencing with world leaders … perhaps running for political office himself. It’s a nice thought, but if he hadn’t been assassinated, would we pay close enough attention, or would we listen with half an ear?
Some say that we cannot change the past. I beg to differ. It’s been a popular science fiction theme – someone traveling back in time and preventing the J.F.K. or Lincoln assassination. If one could really prevent Martin Luther King’s assassination in such a way, would we be ready for the outcome? That is the important question. Are we ready, or is society too immature to hold his mentorship in sufficiently high esteem without first being subjected to the harsh wake-up call of his assassination?
To borrow a concept of theoretical science, what if in some alternate dimension or universe, Dr. King may indeed be walking amongst us, living the “dream” that he so eloquently shared with us – mingling with the reality of how far we’ve come as a result of sharing in his dream? Perhaps we’re not yet ready to let go of his tragic death, and yet keep his dream alive. Perhaps if we were ready, the tragic past would undo itself … if we believe hard enough.
The past no longer exists … all we have is the present at any given time. Wrong! The past “does” exist in our minds and hearts. It has a metaphysical presence; you might even say that the historical past is a type of dream that found its way into the memory banks of our culture. What if we could dream a better past – one where Dr. King didn’t have to die? Whether or not it would bring Dr. King back in the flesh may not count nearly as much in the greater scheme of things, as whether we’d be ready for him if he did. If we dreamed ourselves back in time as a better “people,” more ripe for his message, more responsible with our brethren across racial lines, ready to embrace the civil rights that he promoted to the same extent that we do at present – maybe then we’d be ready to shake his hand today.
How ready we are would determine what society would be like if Dr. Martin Luther King was still alive today.
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