(The Dallas Examiner) – It has been over 60 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous I Have a Dream speech in Washington D.C.

His speech led to desegregation in the United States and led to the Civil Rights Act of 1965.

Sixty years later, questions linger about whether King’s dream and vision for America has been realized – and if not, what more is needed to make it a reality. To explore this, several African American leaders were asked their opinion. Three prominent African American leaders stepped forward to share their perspectives and offer insight into the ongoing journey for equality and justice.

Those three individuals were State Sen. Royce West for District 23, Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price and Mar Butler, CEO of Tree Leadership, a nonprofit that helps at-risk youth.

Question: What achievements, in your opinion, have we – as a nation – made toward Dr. Martin Luther King’s dream?

West: His speech has been impactful to my life. I think we moved a little further when it comes to equality for all men and women. We haven’t achieved it yet, but we are closer to it. We are taking steps toward it. We are taking two steps forward and at least a half step back as of today with all the things such as anti-DEI rhetoric. But what we have to reconcile is that as far as race, people should be judged by the content of their character. And the question becomes whether or not are we there yet and we are not, but we are moving towards it and how do we know that? I look at everyday life and when you begin to look at the imagery on television, you see more people of color, not just African Americans, but Asians, Hispanics and other ethnic groups. However, when you think about corporate organizations, we are still not there yet. We do not have a significant number of African Americans on corporate boards.

Price: Very little. We have desegregated but we have not integrated. The fact that in 2024 we are still talking about DEI. The fact that in 2024, the widening gap between African Americans earnings compared to Anglos is substantially the same, there really hasn’t been more advancement. The fact that we have more elected officials means nothing.

Butler: I wasn’t born when Dr. King made his speech, but I have experienced the benefits of his dream. I am living the fruition of his dream. We have excelled in education, where discrimination is not a major factor that will prevent an individual from obtaining success through education. Our right to vote for whomever with elected officials on any level and we have the ability to join forces with others in the community to achieve our common goal. So in that perspective, we have reached Dr. King’s goal. We have the first Black president in Barack Obama, we have the first Black vice president in Kamala Harris, so in the past we were not able to have that due to our skin color.

Q: What do you feel has been blocking us from reaching our full potential, as a country?

West: Racism is still alive and well. Maybe not as much as it used to be, but it is still there. I think the greatest impediment is our actual involvement. I am quite disappointed when we talk to the younger generation and different generations of African Americans that didn’t vote this time. Even though they had the opportunity to do it, they decided not to get involved in voting. That is the biggest weapon that we have because if we vote, we win. But apathy is setting in and moving us back and we have to do something about that.

Price: Policies, racism – we have to shoulder some of that because we do not have the same energy or vision that group of people had in Dr. King’s day had, in terms of understanding and moving toward the dream. As a result, we have become more non-postering. The fact that our kids generationally think we have gone backwards.

Butler: Dr. King’s dream as he was following the teachings of Gandhi means that we can accomplish any goal, and we have the right to protest and if we could accomplish it more effectively in a peaceful manner. With that being said, our protests and our outcries have not been respected at all levels regardless of whether we come together peacefully, and I still believe that is yet to be seen in our time. I think we are training in that direction, but we have a ways to go in that perspective. However we lack unity and we have not fulfilled the fruition of working together unifying one common goal, sacrificing that goal. Dr. King and those pioneers that came before him have constantly expressed sacrificing for the future. We haven’t really done that. I think we are still mainly driven for temporary gratification and temporary success, and this makes us as a race vulnerable and susceptible to separation and infiltration. We go for the same goal, but we do it separately. Once we realize that we cannot accomplish these goals and dreams alone, and that we can only accomplish them if we work together with a more unifying force and until we reach that, I think we will always have some success or partial success as a race.

Q:  What part of his dream should we be focused on now and what should be our first steps?

West: We need to continue working on Dr. King’s dream and ask ourselves “Have we rested on our laurels in 2024? And the question is “What does that mean?” That means we have a presidency that may undue all the things that we gained and I’m sure Dr. King would want to make sure that we refortify the army of activists and stress the importance of voting to those that do not vote. As far as education, we need to make sure people understand the importance of education. 

Price: It should still be equity. We should understand the issue of equity. The number one fight for me as a policy maker is still whether or not we are included in the distribution because this is a community with a trillion dollars’ worth of public sector money. TxDOT, DISD, Parkland Hospital, Dallas County, Dallas College District, and if African Americans were able to just get a portion of those dollars, public sector not private but public sector, then we would be a lot better off. We are still not there.

Butler: We need to focus on economic independence now. I believe that we are outside of the White race and our counterparts that have been in this country longer, we are one of the oldest that have been in this country and yet we are still not first or second as far as being the richest race in America or even the top. There are races that have migrated to America after us and they are more valuable than we are. And this is mainly due to our separatism to be honest. We will never have what we are supposed to have until we accomplish it on our own. Ownership is the greatest education we can teach ourselves, and we can teach our children that moving forward.

Q: What gives you hope that we will continue to make progress?

West: When I see young people. I have an internship to work with young people through Dr. Emmett J. Conrad. And when I see young people coming through this internship program, I am excited. I see some great talent out there and we just have to make sure we continue to give them opportunities to develop their talents and work with mentors to give them guidance on fulfilling Dr. King’s dream.

Price: I don’t believe we are woke enough to understand what is the real objective. We have to reapply Dr. King’s vision and understand the principles of Kwanzaa. When we look, we are the ones picketing, talking about getting into the medical schools, the law schools and what has been the benefit of that? We are still posturing and not understanding the real power we have.

Butler: We need to adapt that old mantra that ‘Each One Teach One,’ and not relying on the institution and educational systems to teach our children and that we should do it culturally as well. We need to continue to adapt so our children will know where we come from, and it is important for them to carry the torch forward even when we can’t see the outcome or fruition.