Black elected leaders have an obligation to fulfill the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream

As we honor the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday this Monday with a federal holiday, there will be programs, pageantry and celebrations for a man who expressed a powerful dream in 1963 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. But that dream remains largely unfulfilled.

King’s dream was one of a colorblind society; he challenged America to live up to its founding promises of freedom, equality and justice for all. In spite of a record 62 Black members serving in Congress and Black mayors leading major cities — Chicago, New York, Los Angeles and Philadelphia — Black Americans face inequalities in education, criminal justice, health care, economics and contracting. What’s worse is that many state legislatures, including in Georgia, Florida and Mississippi, have passed laws removing Black history from schools and regulating how teachers can discuss race in the classroom, which is a blatant attempt to rewrite history.

King’s dream can be realized if Black elected leaders use their power and prestige to bring about equity. For the first time in history, there are a record seven Black statehouse speakers: Emanuel “Chris” Welch in Illinois; Joanna McClinton, Pennsylvania; Adrienne Jones, Maryland; Joe Tate, Michigan; Carl Heastie, New York; Rachel Talbot Ross, Maine; and Don Scott Jr., Virginia. According to USA Today, “state legislatures pass the policies that are the most likely to impact people’s day-to-day lives.” Too often, though, the voice of Black communities is left out of policymaking. The minority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives is Hakeem Jeffries, a Black man. The collective power of Black elected leaders is unparalleled at this moment.

What good is that power if it is not being used to right the wrongs of the past and present?

The Black community needs equity in housing, health care, education, jobs and contracting. The Pew Research Center, in a poll last year, found that more than 80% of Black Americans “say efforts to ensure equality haven’t gone far enough.” In the same poll, 58% of Latinos, 55% Asians and 44% of white Americans suggest we haven’t done enough to ensure equality.

In King’s beloved Chicago, a place he once called home, homelessness, hopelessness, drug addiction and mental illness abound. Homeless encampments in public parks and tent cities along expressways underscore the necessity for public policy around affordable and fair housing. In 1966, King moved his family to the North Lawndale neighborhood to highlight awful living conditions for Black people and fight for fair housing. Those conditions have worsened. King likely would be shocked to see the dehumanization of the dispossessed and disinherited and wonder if his protesting were in vain. I think he would be appalled to know that Madison Street on the West Side looks much like it did after the 1968 riots.

When King led a protest in Chicago’s Marquette Park neighborhood, he was primarily fighting against a white supremacist establishment that wanted to maintain the status quo. According to the Citizen newspaper, King declared, “I have never in my life seen such hate … not in Mississippi or Alabama.” I wonder what King would say today — as the political paradigm in Chicago, for example, has shifted to Black people serving as major political leaders and yet Black people remain at the bottom of the economic and social ladder.

Black leaders and Springfield Democrats allowed the Invest in Kids scholarship program to expire. The program helped Black students escape poor-performing public schools. Welch, the first Black Illinois House speaker, failed to call the bill for a vote.

Our city, state and nation continue to grapple with persistent health disparities. King said: “Of all forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and the most inhuman because it often results in physical death.” West Side United, a collaborative of hospitals and community leaders started by Dr. David A. Ansell, found that “people who live on Chicago’s West Side have a projected life expectancy that is up to 14 years shorter than those who live downtown.” Their research suggests the life expectancy gap is driven by “inequities in healthcare, education, economic opportunity, and the physical environment.”

The following are suggestions to make King’s dream a reality:

• Black elected leaders at the federal, state and local levels must unite and use their collective voice to present bold policy initiatives and resources to close racial disparities.

• Business and government leaders should fund think tanks at historically Black colleges and universities to measure progress regarding generational issues affecting Black communities.

• Citizens must vote and hold elected officials accountable for improving their quality of life.

I write this commentary to make those comfortable with promoting inequality and injustice uncomfortable.