The Dream Has Not Been Realized

I’m tired, y’all 😫

I have been trying to keep my mouth shut and mind the Black business that pays me, but I’m tired, y’all.

Today, a very wise man that I truly respect posted his outrage at what he sees as the attempt to erase the Tuskeegee Airmen from history. Here I go, readin the comments again🤦🏾‍♀️

One of them was from someone, presumably white male, about free speech, colorblind policies, MLK’s Dream being implemented, why have Black colleges, uniting America, and how we need to get rid of race so on and so forth.

Let me be clear.

The Dream HAS NOT been realized.

I wasn’t going to respond. I’ve been keeping my fingers in check over the past week mainly because my lived experiences as a Black woman are often misconstrued or misunderstood. But I did respond, and the majority of it is now this blog post.

That being said, if you are not Black, you can not fathom the fact that your perception of the Dream involves picking and choosing the pieces of it that fit your narrative.

Many Black children are taught the entire I Have a Dream speech from elementary age. We are then asked to perform only a portion at Black history oratory competitions in churches and community centers. Typically, the portion begins with having a dresm deeply rooted in the American dream. But I emplore you to read or listen to the speech in its entirety.

“But 100 years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later the Negro is still languished in the corners of American society and finds himself in exile in his own land.” -REVEREND. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. August 28, 1963

It is now 2025. Racism and discrimination are very much alive TODAY in and out of the workplace. Not just discrimination against Black people, but ageism, misogyny, ableism, gender, religious discrimination you name it, it is STILL here. Still to this day, Black people are often judged by appearance first. Black people still have to be twice as good and twice as smart as a mediocre white man to get half of the treatment he gets.

I have seen Black doctors presumed to be nurses standing adjacent to any non Black. I have seen Black people, from attorneys to Magistrates, who are overlooked for promotions yet have to train those that, in actuality, ARE less qualified than them to do the job that they were denied. I know LatinX who have executive level positions in corporate America but somehow still get excluded from the room when the executives meet yet have to put out fires every single day because they perform the job of the CFO, Controller, and HR Manager while being too something or not enough something 🤷🏾‍♀️ to be the CFO.

You can not get rid of race because I can not get rid of my skin. No matter how qualified I am, how many degrees I hold or how well I know my field it will never be enough for anyone who has already prejudged me and decided I’m a DEI hire when they still have no understanding of what the fuck diversity equity and inclusion is. Y’all will make up anything to fit your narrative of “woke”. And I say that with all the disrespect in the world as someone who is actually educated and certified in diversity equity and inclusion in the workplace.

Race matters in THIS country. Sex matters in THIS country. Religion matters in THIS country. No one can see the content of anyone’s character in THIS country because they’ve already judged them by their color of their skin.

There are HBCUs…. I’m assuming that’s what was meant by “Black colleges” because Black people were not allowed to go to other colleges. College was for white people, namely male, and the Black people that eventually were allowed in are still seen as not enough and are called DEI hires TODAY, in THIS country. By the way, HBCUs are all inclusive and do not deny admission to non Blacks.

You can not undo the hate for anything different that has been and continues to be taught in this country. Racism ingrained in the very fabric of AmeriKKKa. There have been racist beliefs and prejudice taught from childhood, passed down to children and grandchildren. White supremacy has existed and still exists in every single institution in these United States.  It is willfully obtuse to think otherwise.

So no. We can not move past race. It’s the AmeriKKKan way. But I promise you this is not what Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stood for or envisioned.

-V