J. D. Porter

February is recognized in the United States as Black History Month, so perhaps those of us who are not black should pause and reflect.

You and I are white males, born and raised in the South. Our families go back generations in Georgia and Florida, which means our ancestors might have owned black people who were slaves. Someday, you will discover how beneficial it is to be white and male, especially in the southern United States. We are favored with something called the power of whiteness.

I can’t turn back the clock and undo a racially divisive past. But I can choose to live in a world where I am proud of who I am without feeling superior to anyone else. I am proud of my own family and of the people (both black and white) of my generation and older who live, work, and play together in friendship and brotherly love. I am proud of a southern heritage of politeness where we say hello to strangers on the street and we greet friends and relatives with a hug.

In August 1963 (when I was 13 years old) Baptist minister and civil rights activist, Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. It has come to be known as his I Have a Dream speech. In it he said, “I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.” Today—and I hope when you are reading this someday—that dream has become a reality.

But it is still worth reminding ourselves that we are naturally drawn to people who look like us, so we need to work at being open to the potential value of everyone we meet. My hope for you is that you will grow up seeing the good in people by embracing diversity and judging them by the content of their character, not by their appearance—whether male or female; gay or straight; black, brown, or white. I hope you will live by Dr. King’s words:

“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”.