Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, and the Fate of America

Here's a link to a heartfelt and thought-provoking article by Imam Zaid Shakir that was just posted yesterday:

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Barack Obama, and the Fate of America
By Imam Zaid on 23 January 2008

"While it is certainly heartening to see such a strong candidacy from an African American, Obama’s run for the presidency sheds light on the nuances of race relations in this land in ways that many who admire or support him might not wish to discuss."

"As long as we politely skirt the fundamental problems plaguing our country, starting with the superficiality of our race relations, Obama’s candidacy and possible election do not represent any real change, they represent a re-entrenched status quo, and illustrate the sort of duplicity that would hound Dr. King as a traitor and communist at the end of his life yet enshrine him as a martyr after his death."