Can you imagine how great America could be?

JOE WALSH: MY OWN DREAM FOR AMERICA

By Joe Walsh - 

Today marks the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you should know that today is the anniversary, as over the last week, every columnist, pundit and cable news host has been emphatically asking if Dr. King’s dream has been realized.

Of all the commentators who have been asking whether King’s dream has been achieved, FOX News’ Juan Williams seems to be the only one with whom I agree. When asked by Chris Wallace if the dream has been fulfilled, Williams noted that there isn’t, “any question that [African Americans] have come along way,” before importantly pointing out that blacks have to address the problems that are created within their communities. “I think that if you look at the realities of today, you’ve got to talk about things like family breakdown,” Williams said. “You’ve got to talk about the fact that 70 percent of black children today are born out of wedlock. I think Dr. King would cry.”

I agree with Juan, but instead of invoking King’s legacy to lament about present problems I’ve decided to share my own dream. (below)

I have a dream that all black parents will have the right to choose where their kids attend school.

I have a dream that all black boys and girls will grow up with a father.

I have a dream that young black men will stop shooting other young black men.

I have a dream that all young black men will say "no" to gangs and to drugs.

I have a dream that all black young people will graduate from high school.

I have a dream that young black men won’t become fathers until after they’re married and they have a job.

I have a dream that young unmarried black women will say "no" to young black men who want to have sex.

I have a dream that today’s black leadership will quit blaming racism and “the system” for what ails black America.

I have a dream that black America will take responsibility for improving their own lives.

I have a dream that one day black America will cease their dependency on the government plantation, which has enslaved them to lives of poverty, and instead depend on themselves, their families, their churches, and their communities. 

Blacks have made great progress during the past 50 years but much of it is just window dressing. Many of them have achieved not on their own, but with government assistance and policies such as affirmative action. Let's end those programs and let the blacks be all they can be. Let's give them their economic rights. Then and only then will they be truly welcomed into American society.