Commentary:
MLK Day 2025 is approaching even as we face unprecedented socio-economic issues and civil unrest. We have just lived through one of the most consequential presidential elections of our lifetimes. The winning presidential candidate received 49.9% of the popular vote, while the other candidate hovered at 48.4% (the outcome decided by a narrow margin of less than 2%), a slight difference, but a major impact. Now we begin the new year under a new regime. And, this new regime favors the rich at the expense of the poor. The country is divided. Our differences are stark. Half the country is elated, the other half mortified. Thus, it is fitting that this year’s MLK 2025 theme is “Mission Impossible”.
Will our challenges be eased by the new administration? Not likely. Will police reform be on the agenda for the new regime. Not likely. Will the mantra of making America “great again” take us back to the good old days when the concept of policing was founded. We should not forget that the groundwork for policing was based upon the "Slave Patrol" era when the intent was to pursue, apprehend, and return runaway slaves to their owners, through the relentless and legalized use of excessive force. Back then, the mission was to inflict terrorism in response to slave uprisings. Overturning such a mission seemed impossible, until 1865 when the Thirteenth Amendment was passed prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude in the United States. It took a civil war to overcome the slave patrol. Are we heading for more of the same with mass deportations? Disproportionate profiling and implicit biases in policing can be tackled, but it will demand our undivided attention in 2025.
Another challenge facing people of color is health inequity. Geography, income, and race are longstanding predictors of health outcomes. Generational health inequity will require coordinated action to address the root causes, including poverty, exclusion, inferior schools, unsafe housing, poor nutrition, and toxic environments. This is a mission that will require the redistribution of money, power, and resources as well as the adoption of proactive policies at the national, state, and local levels to optimize health for all. Given the current political climate, this is a mission that is all but impossible.
Health inequity is exacerbated by wealth inequity. The lack of economic resources severely impacts people of color who have been historically restricted from participating. White families typically have ten times the wealth of Black families, one of many financial gaps that come from decades of discriminatory policies and nearly three centuries of slavery. Economic equity is a crucial part of establishing holistic racial equity for people of color. Everyone should be able to contribute to the economy, not only as workers and consumers, but also as business owners with the same access to resources and equal opportunity.
Extreme disparities in employment, home ownership, and housing affordability have not been mentioned as a priority for the new regime. We know that everyone deserves to earn livable wages and benefits with opportunities to build credit, acquire financing, develop assets. But policies, practices, and system changes seem to be going in the wrong direction. Can we close the racial wealth gap? Not likely. Initiatives that support diversity, equity, inclusion are now being thwarted by political and cultural shifts.
Recent rulings by a conservative-leaning Supreme Court have upended women’s reproductive freedom and ended affirmative action in college admissions. Women have died because they have been denied routine, but life-saving treatment. More than 30 states have introduced laws banning or limiting DEI initiatives, and many companies are scaling back or completely eliminating their DEI programs due to political pressure, legal concerns, and public backlash. This will likely get worse if the new administration has the opportunity to appoint more Supreme Court judges. Not as great as some of us would like it to be.
But as we approach MLK Day 2025, we can learn from the wisdom of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who once said “I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. We know there is a great light ahead. And where there’s faith in the future, something reminds us that the arc of the moral universe may be long, but it bends toward justice”.
With the unyielding faith of Dr. King, we can believe that that even though the mission seems impossible, there is hope. And, in Dr. King’s own words, “The mission is made possible by the multiracial, multigenerational army of ordinary people who united to awaken the consciousness of a people and a nation until the promise of America is made real for all. With this type of faith in the future and this determination, and this commitment to the ideal of freedom and human dignity, we will be able to bring into full realization the principles of our democracy and go that additional distance”.
So, in keeping with this year’s theme, our mission, “should we choose to accept it”, is to use our unwavering resolve, the power of human ingenuity and the enduring spirit of determination in the face of adversity to demonstrate that no challenge is insurmountable, and no mission is impossible, even now.
Dr. Bobbie Green is the President of NAACP-Doña Ana County, Professor of Information Systems and a social activist. The opinions of Dr. Bobbie Green are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of KRWG Public Media or NMSU.