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Congressman
Elijah E. Cummings |
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Congressman
Elijah E. Cummings |
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by Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
This month, having just celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, Congress returns to Washington. Although many of my Republican colleagues believe that the objectives of the civil rights movement have been fulfilled, they are mistaken.
The struggle for justice in America is just beginning. Although we have made progress, the American Dream is receding into the distance for too many Americans.
As the National Urban League's President, Hugh Price, pointed out in his address to the League's national convention last summer, one out of six Americans lack health insurance. The black unemployment rate remains about twice that of whites - higher for young adults.
The gap in computer ownership among working class white and black families has actually
grown during the last five years. Black entrepreneurs seeking small business loans are
rejected twice as often as whites with the same credit rating.
Police brutality continues to plague people of color. AIDS is ravaging African American communities at rates that would not be tolerated in more affluent areas; and the same is true of other mortal illnesses.
The Urban League's call for a "Marshall Plan" for America outlines the course of action that we must follow in our continuing movement toward that more just nation of Dr. King's dream.
When the American people cast our votes later this year, we will be doing something beyond choosing a new President and Congress. We will be making a decision about civil and human rights in America.
I believe that Dr. King's civil rights agenda for 21st Century America would closely parallel the "10 Opportunity Commandments" that the Urban League and Hugh Price have proposed.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., would be leading us toward an America that (1) offers quality pre-school education to every child whose parents cannot afford it; (2) provides affordable health care for the 41 million Americans who are uninsured; (3) ensures that every public school serving poor children equips them for self-reliance; (4) vastly increases support for proven programs that could help our estimated 15 million high school dropouts achieve more productive lives; and (5) guarantees universal access to affordable higher education.
Dr. King would demand concrete movement toward an America that (6) maintains national economic policies promoting high employment and economic growth in all American communities; (7) eliminates the "digital divide" by making computers and the Internet affordable for everyone; (8) assures the full participation of minority Americans in higher education, employment and contracting; (9) eradicates ethnic home ownership disparities by providing 100 percent mortgage guarantees for credit-worthy, working class minority families; and (10) totally eliminates the discriminatory business loan practices that limit minority entrepreneurs.
African Americans are denied full justice in each of the areas that the Urban League has targeted. It is equally apparent, however, that only 3 or 4 of the Urban League's 10 commandments for change address problems that are unique to African American communities.
Now, as in Dr. King's time, justice for African Americans is inextricably bound up with achieving justice for all Americans.
This year's national elections for control of the White House and Congress - and the legislative redistricting that will follow this year's national census - will define our continuing civil rights struggle for justice in America.
"Now is the time," President Price declared, "to determine whether America is serious about making the American dream truly accessible to all Americans....We have the resources. It's our job to muster the national will."
I agree. This is the year for compassionate, progressive Americans of all backgrounds to work together for that just America that remains the ultimate destination and reality of Dr. King's dream.
As Hugh Price declared in Houston last summer, "Now we begin our ascent toward the light. Our destination is the American Dream, and nothing less."
Now, it is our time and our mission to carry the movement for justice forward. Now, it is our time to create an America that leaves no one behind.
-The Honorable Elijah E. Cummings represents the 7th Congressional District of Maryland in the United States House of Representatives.
