Times May Have Changed, But The Truth Hasn’t
In 1976 the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., stated the following Truth:
“After 348 years, racial injustice is still the Negro’s burden and America’s shame!
“Yet for his own inner health and outer functioning, the Negro is called upon to be resourceful, as productive and as responsible as those who have not known such oppression and exploitation!
“This is the Negro’s dilemma. He who starts out behind in a race must forever remain behind or run faster than the man in front. What a dilemma”!
“It is a call to do the ‘Impossible,’ and it’s enough to cause the Negro to give up in despair!”
We African Americans no longer consider ourselves as “Negroes” but we still have this same “Dilemma!” This “Truth” effects us in every part of our lives—from housing to schools, from jobs to healthcare and all else in between, including “Justice” with this country’s criminal justice system. Yet, we are told repeatedly that times have changed.
Maybe we should stop dealing with the times, and start dealing with the truth!
Kevin Cooper is an innocent man on San Quentin’s Death Row in California. He continues to struggle for exoneration and to abolish the death penalty in the whole U.S.
Write to Kevin Cooper at:
Kevin Cooper C-65304, 4 EB 82
San Quentin State Prison
San Quentin, CA 94974