MLK Day (or "How my old roommate guilted me into making a post") Carlos, my former roommate, gave me a good reminder earlier. See, I had these articles to write, so I posted an away message announcing that I was working. Not my wisest move.
I got these IMs from him while I was away...

"Three-quarters of those surveyed say there has been significant progress on achieving King's dream. But only 66 percent of blacks felt that way."

"For a big portion of the African-Americans, there's not better education," said David Bositis, an analyst of black issues for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. "There have been some gains made, but it's uneven. A lot of whites basically say: 'The civil rights movement has been done. I don't want to hear about it anymore.'"

"Only 23 percent of respondents say they will do anything to commemorate the national holiday that took effect in 1986 after a lengthy campaign in Congress to honor King. A solid majority of blacks, 60 percent, say they will get involved in holiday activities"

"All 50 states gradually recognized a King holiday. But only one-third of businesses offer a paid holiday, according to the Bureau of National Affairs."

"73% of Americans say this should be a national holiday 22% say is shouldn't"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10865903/

and ...http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10874753/from/RL.1/

"I'm finished. There you've observed the holiday by learning some interesting info."

Now, Los and I are good friends, and I've certainly never considered myself racist, so this gave me pause. I IMed him, talked, and generally ignored my work for a little while. I'm behind now, but, like Los said, I'm better educated. And it is interesting to think about race relations today.

Now, even though Los isn't my roomie, he's still reminding me that sometimes I should pay a little attention to what's going on around me.
Thanks for the reminder, roomie :).  ¶   1 comments