Oregon school almost tosses away MLK Jr. quote. You’ll never guess why, too!

The problem with going down certain roads is that they are very steep, and it’s hard to stop on them once you’re on them, and… look, there’s a reason why we don’t let young kids run things, OK?

Oregon’s Erb Memorial Union, which is currently under renovation, had the following famous King quote on the wall: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. I have a dream…”

…No problem, right?  Wrong. The student union thought about yanking the quote. Why? Why do you think?

When the student union considered the question, some students asked, “Does the MLK quote represent us today?” The problem wasn’t so much the message, but the fact that it only focused on racial diversity instead of gender identity.

Um, not being judged by the color of your skin is not in fact focusing on racial diversity.  It’s focusing on the idea that racial diversity should be ignored when it comes to morality and ethics, not fetishized. And speaking of fetishizing: evidence continues to build that gender is the next triple word score in our culture’s grand game of Diversity Scrabble.

:pause:

People don’t play Scrabble anymore, do they. Unless… maybe there’s an app for it, or something? Nah, I’m probably reaching, there.

Via @johntabin.

Moe Lane

12 thoughts on “Oregon school almost tosses away MLK Jr. quote. You’ll never guess why, too!”

  4. You know that Words with Friends is essentially Scrabble, right?

    And I was expecting the problem to be that MLK was calling for equality, rather than bonuses for certain groups.

    1. Equality is so last century. Now it’s about how many victimhoods you can plausibly claim.

    2. About Words with Friends…
      It’s an incredibly frustrating game, in that it recognises genuinely obscure words, but chokes on one’s that are merely uncommon.
      So there are apps for the app, which give you “suggestions” of approved words you can play with your tiles in the spaces available to you.
      This allows you to look terribly clever, while requiring no effort or thought at all.
      It’s the perfect game for Millennials.

  5. I would play ‘scrabble’ more except that I usually wind up sandbagging to keep the game from becoming a blowout. For whatever reason, I happen to be really really good at ‘Scrabble’… probably not tourney-champ good, but tourney participation, easily.

    1. I was never good at scoring on Scrabble because I would just make these BEAUTIFUL words…. low points. sigh but just such fun

  7. I can’t think of anything.

    Let the Great Lefty Tribal War begin. I expect the Republican version we have will look like a cotillion when they’re done redistributing the loot (and the body parts).

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