Autobiography - The Galindo Group

Ram Galindo THE MAKING OF AN AMERICAN Page 30
principle, and remotely at that, to the revolution of Lucius Junius Brutus in early Rome,
to the Magna Carta, the Lutheran reformation and the anti-colonial movements of the
19 th and 20 th Centuries. They also pursued individual freedom, but their cost in human
suffering is not comparable. These movements were for the most part, as in India and
South Africa, resolved without an all-out war. Ours affected every person in the country
and exacted an uncountable price from every person then living in the U.S. It laid out
the best grounds for the pursuit of my own happiness.
Today, as a society, and many of us as individuals, we are still experiencing the ripples
of the 1860s convulsion. Its after-effects continue to ensure that every American has
equal access to our constitutional rights. Awareness of the importance to all people on
the planet of America’s role in the preservation of the right to pursue personal dreams
should be permanently present in the front page of every statesman’s philosophy. This
awareness drives many, including me, to continued involvement in the American
process and to understanding how the framework of law principles has shifted and is
still shifting. The price of the right to dream is by no means just a night’s sleep. In fact,
dreams of self-improvement invariably cut down on sleep time.
The concept “America”, the greatest promise of men to mankind, survived thanks to the
sacrifices of untold Americans. Generation after generation countless heroes have
preserved for us the right to freely pursue a dream. Thanks to these heroes I, like
millions all over our land, am here today turning my dreams into reality. When modern
advocates of racial equality complain about the lack of equal rights for everyone, they
need to take a historical look at the path that has brought them to a point where they
can voice such complaints. The progress, though excruciatingly slow on an individual’s
time scale, is really breathtaking on a historical time scale. The question in America
today is not whether there are equal rights available for everyone but rather, is everyone
using available equal rights? Just like opportunity is easier to find when one looks for it,
equal rights are easier to use when one pursues a dream.
Martin Luther King’s legacy, as far as I am concerned, is to have handed all
impoverished minorities an ember with which to fire their quest for a dream and to
remind the anti-American racial supremacists that the Declaration of Independence and
the Constitution apply to all. This courage cost him his life. He was a great American
and a great dreamer felled by the forces of would-be tyranny.
Although many politicians and pundits often use him as leverage for more and bigger
government programs, I don’t read his intent as a demand for a government guaranty of
personal realization to everybody and anybody. Of all people, Dr. King was well aware
of the dangers of an all-powerful government. He knew America didn’t want tyranny or
the patronage it spawns. When Dr. King announced that he had a dream, he put all
Americans regardless of race, on notice that everyone in America has the right to
pursue a dream. His courage, like a magnified ripple from the Civil War, highlighted
again the message of freedom and equal opportunity for all.
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