MLK Day

In general this isn't the most celebrated holiday in this country.  It doesn't have a lot of build up and there aren't a lot of sales associated with it.

In the stores, after Christmas they go right for Valentine's Day or even St Patrick's Day items.

This might be because its hard to figure out what would be an appropriate thing to sell for the day that wouldn't perpetuate a stereotype or be offensive.

Now I also think the day should be expanded to Civil Rights Day or something similar since, while MLK was a significant player in the movement he wasn't the only one.

The civil rights era wasn't that long ago and the struggle it encompassed isn't really over yet.  One of the problems is that a certain number of black citizens have been trapped in a cycle of poverty and drug abuse. 

Now of course there are other poor people but unfortunately black ghettos are uniquely identifiable.  I like to think that progress is being made in reducing the problems but I'm not sure it is and there is a backlash concerning the programs they rely on.

Any program that can be devised to provide money or benefits is subject to a certain amount of abuse.  This isn't something new and it's certainly not unique to poverty programs.  However we like to highlight the abuses and condemn the entire program. 

The level of oversight that would be need to eliminate abuse is simply impossibly high.  In addition, for every measure the people involved find a way to counter it.  However, certain politicians highlight these abuses to attack the entire programs.

We have a problem in this country related to blaming the victim.  Now adult people should be held to a certain level of responsibility.  However, if you are born into a cycle of poverty and drug abuse, where education is sub-par and drugs are easy to come by and the only careers seem to be selling either drugs or your body, you are more a victim than a criminal.

How do you change that?  It's obviously not an easy answer and of course a certain number of young people find their way out of the cycle.  However, we do live in a world where an average person born into a middle class household who maybe experiments with drugs and sex is likely to end up with a job and a future while the equivalent person born into poverty is likely to end up with an addiction and jail. 

We might need to try something different, but I'm afraid that new administration is going to reverse any progress that might have been made.