Sixty years ago this week, Martin Luther King Jr. marched on Washington, D.C. Since then, we have all heard the words: “I have a dream.”
But those words have been distorted by detached, cynical politicians — politicians who exploit MLK’s vision for the sake of power. Many choose not to read the entire speech, in which MLK reaffirms his support for the “American dream” as the guiding principle for people of all colors and creeds.
MLK dreamed of “equality,” not “equity.” He dreamed of “freedom and justice” for all Americans, not reparations for a select few. He didn’t dream of the epidemic of fatherlessness that we see now, or the denunciation of police officers who are trying to keep our communities safe. He didn’t denounce America as “systemically racist;” he recognized its greatness and sought for America, despite its flaws, to live up to the ideals established in the Constitution.
This past weekend, tens of thousands of Americans marched in honor of MLK, but not the man’s underlying message. Those who carried Marxist “Black Lives Matter” banners in Washington, D.C. last weekend are not part of the solution; they are only part of the problem, dividing us along racial lines.
Al Sharpton, one of the rally’s organizers, has made a career stoking the flames of racial division for personal gain. He is a race-hustler who refuses to tell the truth and highlight the key issues facing the black community.
Whether the Sharpton types say it or not, the number one issue in the black community — and America writ large — is not “systemic racism.” It is not “white supremacy,” as Joe Biden ridiculously claims. It is the epidemic of fatherlessness, a virus infecting urban and rural communities alike. Forget COVID: Fatherlessness is the virus setting up black kids for failure, pushing them into crime and the arms of Democrat politicians who are all too willing to politicize their struggles into votes.
Roughly 70 percent of black kids today enter the world without a father in the home married to the mother — up from 24 percent back in 1965. Millions of black kids (and white kids) are growing up without proper role models, like my parents were for my brothers and me. And, without the right guidance, many black children are inevitably becoming violent criminals, wreaking havoc and ruining lives, especially their own.
The link between fatherlessness and crime can’t be overstated. And yet, race-hustlers like Sharpton turn a blind eye to the root cause of criminality. Career politicians like Biden pretend that the problem is the Republican Party or nebulous racism. Even worse, left-wing district attorneys — funded by George Soros — are putting violent criminals back on the streets, and putting innocent lives in danger.
The solution to America’s number one domestic problem is and has always been family. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a black male aged 10 to 43 is 13 times more likely to be murdered than a white male. That’s because family life in the black community has become an exception, not the rule, with fathers abandoning their children and women marrying the government instead.
Democrats won’t tell you that. They won’t speak the truth.
Why? Because the Democratic Party’s political livelihood depends on pimping black people for votes. By selling the lies of “systemic racism” and “white supremacy,” Biden-type Democrats keep getting elected and re-elected, complaining about the system that they represent and without ever taking accountability for their actions (or lack thereof).
Democrat apathy was made all too clear when Biden appeared on The Breakfast Club in 2020 and told co-host Charlemagne tha God that “you ain’t black” if you vote for Donald Trump. It is a statement so absurd and insulting that black people should’ve revolted against Biden-type Democrats right then and there, as I recently explained to Charlemagne.
But that didn’t happen. Blacks kept buying the Democrats’ bag of tainted goods, Democrats kept taking black votes for granted and nothing changed for the better. The black community only fell further behind.
Nothing will change come 2024, unless black people decide to finally hold Democrats accountable. Until they and the politicians who exploit their votes address the elephant in the room that is fatherlessness, the black community will continue to suffer. And MLK’s dream will become more elusive.
If we are to reverse America’s decline and live up to Martin Luther King Jr.’s American dream, family will lead the way — there is no other way. Without fathers married to mothers at home, the black community has no hope.
Larry Elder is a Republican candidate for president of the United States in 2024. He is the author of “As Goes California: My Mission to Rescue the Golden State and Save the Nation.”
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller.