Classy Black People...

It's probably a good thing there is no board to which I have to submit blog titles.

Today is, as I'm sure you are all aware, Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Grateful children everywhere stay home from school while throughout the South there are grumblings of displeasure (They get out of school for this, but not for Presidents' Day!?). I'll admit that I don't understand what anyone anywhere could possibly have against MLK Jr. His book, Why We Can't Wait should be required reading for every U.S. Citizen and his speeches still induce cold chills more than forty years after his death. In fact, do yourself a favor and download the "I have a Dream" speech and listen to it in it's entirety; tell me it isn't moving.

King is probably the most important American never to be President, and his impact is tremendous, although most of us probably take for granted that the positive changes we have seen in race relations since the mid-sixties would have happened anyway. This is foolish. I'm glad that as a country we have a black Presidential candidate who has not just a chance at getting some votes, but a real shot at winning. I'm glad because it proves that there is some rational clarity present on the racial landscape of this country, removed from the misplaced fervor of the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of the world. This probably would not be possible without King. Obviously, racism and complications therein are not absent from America. They may never be entirely. But most of us see those complications in the negative light in which they deserve to wallow. That's really all I wanted to say. Respect MLK for what he was: A Godly man in a broken country attempting through peaceful communication and loving monologue to heal the wounds opened by the hateful attitudes present for so long in America.

This has nothing really to do with MLK day, but Tony Dungy is coming back to coach the Indianapolis Colts next season, which makes me happy. He seems like an upstanding guy and he's good for the NFL and pro sports in general. It made me happy to see him stand up at his press conference today and say that he would not have come back if he felt he didn't have the energy to devote himself fully to both his family and his team. Then he said, "I view my role as coach of this football team not just as a job, but as a ministry." How awesome is that? The players and staff of the Indianapolis Colts are lucky to be around a guy who interprets everything around him through the lens of his faith. It's great to see this in a public figure who has accomplished everything his profession has to offer, but is still humble enough to approach these decisions with his family and faith in mind before all else. Three cheers for Dungy.