What does this quote mean?

It means that Dr. King’s dream isn’t coming true.

Well Dr. King’s dream was about equality for all. I think it means that in order for us to have equality that young generations need to understand what equality is and need to know ways in which they can achieve this goal.

Thanks Allie!

Glad I could help. =]

Are you going to wait and see what other people think?

Yeah I am waiting.

and waiting…

I think soundedfury summed it up pretty well. It’s a catch22: for the dream to come true, the very young (naive, innocent and uninformed) have to know and understand…...The problem is by the time they will know and understand, they’re not the very young and may have developed their own prejudice – certainly some of them will have.

WF: I agree with you that some will have developed their own prejudices, but I think there is hope for future generations. Take a look at the differences between the peak of the civil rights era and right now. Segregation used to be ok and no one had a problem with it, now it’s considered very very wrong and discriminating all over.
I think that with time most people become more and more accepting of others (not all people, but most people).

Thanks again

@Allie
Question is, are we eliminating the idea of segregation without replacing it with others that could potentially become just as bad?
Personally I think, unfortunately, we’re going from one extreme to another and until there’s a middleground, the problem can’t and won’t go away. As you said, today it is considered a very bad thing, to the point that people would be afraid to say anything that could be perceived as remotely favorable about it (once again the joys of PC-ness comes in to it). Sweeping it under the rug doesn’t work. There has to be room and tolerance for all ideas. We have to allow for questioning and exploring and be confident that given all available information and understanding, people will choose to respect everyone equally rather than doing so because they’re afraid of what would happen if they don’t – because that doesn’t eliminate the questions…

WF: Hmm.. good point. We should stress the importance of acceptance to younger generations in addition to educating them as to why segregation/discrimination/racism is wrong.
We need more people discussing this here. I’d like to hear the opinions of others.

Exactly. Discussion is key. Just look at Germany. For years and years they weren’t allowed to say anything related to nazism or holocaust. They were just told it was a dark chapter in history and bad things and they had to steer clear of it.

What happened? You have neu-nazism and people denying the thing ever happened.

You can’t just tell people what’s right and what’s wrong. You have to give them the full picture and trust that you’ve conditioned their humane and reasonable side enough that they will choose the right thing.

WF: Couldn’t agree more. =]

I think it means that they know and understand his dream