Page: Now, for the rest of the speech

We like to remember history in short and snappy bumper-sticker sound bites. Real life is a bit more complicated.

Columbus "discovered" a "New World" that was new to him anyway, not to the people who already lived in it.

Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation did free slaves in the states that seceded. He had to prod, cajole, bribe and browbeat Congress to free the rest.

And the Rev. Dr. King had a "dream" that he described eloquently at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom 50 years ago. More importantly, he had an agenda.

As he reached the end of his remarks in front of the huge crowd and King began to improvise, the answer came in a woman's voice. The iconic gospel queen Mahalia Jackson shouted, "Tell them about the dream, Martin!"

He did. Like an oratorical jazz musician he smoothly segued into an improvised version of the "dream" refrain that he had used to great effect in speeches earlier that year. It has since come to define King's entire career in our collective memory, especially this often-quoted line: "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."

Conservatives in particular like to quote that line to argue against any social policies or programs that would take race into account. Yet using King's "dream" to argue against race-based remedies is almost as intellectually dishonest as quoting Lincoln to argue in favor of slavery.

• • •

Conservatives on talk radio and cable TV praise King's memory today. But if he were still around, I imagine they would be accusing him of waging "class warfare" and "playing the race card." Names change but the political game stays the same.

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Conservatives "like to quote that line" because it is the truth, elegantly and unambiguously phrased. Mr. Page seems to be trying to build the case that "conservatives" are somehow taking the quote out of context. Nonsense. Dr. King said it, clearly and forcefully, and it means what it means. We -- whether as individuals, or via our tax dollars for social programs -- should not judge people by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Being "colorblind" fifty years ago was quite a liberal notion; now, it is seen by some as hopelessly right-wing, even borderline racist, and in any event grossly insufficient -- affirmative action, preferential treatment, quotas, and reparations are what's required, according to contemporary liberalism.

Mr. Page should be embarrassed by his clumsy stab at revisionism, not only trying to re-interpret and spin Dr. King's words, but inventing "things he might have said if he were still alive." That's insulting, and childish.

"Conservatives on talk radio and cable TV praise King's memory today. But if he were still around, I imagine they would be accusing him of waging "class warfare" and "playing the race card." Names change but the political game stays the same."

So Clarence Page thinks Dr. King would have been a race hustler and race baiter like the Revs. Al Charlatan and Jesse Jackson? Does Page imagine that if Dr. King had lived, he would have been in favor of the ghetto rap culture we have today with gangs of fatherless young men roaming the streets killing innocent people when they get caught in the crossfire between rival gangs? Does Page think that Dr. King would have been fine with the numbers of black children born out of wedlock, or the numbers of black people willing to live off the Government dole?

Somehow, I don't think that's what Dr. King had in mind.

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