馬丁路德金博士的生日是美國唯一的以個人命名的國家假日，他領導的非暴力民權運動催生了美國的民權法案(Civil Rights Act, 1964)，今天的美國在法律層麵不允許任何基於種族，膚色，宗教，性別，出生國，性取向等的歧視，就是受惠於民權法案。金博士的故事網上隨處可見，這裏隻講他與汽車城底特律的交集。
今天的底特律給人的印象通常是破敗蕭條，犯罪之都。1950年時底特律卻是全美第四大城市，聞名世界的汽車城，人口185萬，其中白人83.58%， 黑人16.25%。到1960年時，因為汽車公司向底特律郊區擴張和交通的便利，許多白人開始離開底特律市住到條件更好的郊區。由於當時的種族隔離政策（住房上有臭名昭著的紅線政策Red Lining，不許黑人在白人社區租房或買房，金融公司也不給黑人貸款），黑人人口雖然增加很快，卻很難租房或買房，被迫擠在狹小的黑人區，公共服務也很缺乏，警察針對黑人的暴行經常發生。1961年，反對種族隔離的白人Jerome Cavanagh當選底特律市長，上任伊始他就任命了改革派警察局長，試圖減少警察針對黑人的暴行。上世紀六十年代正是民權運動如火如荼之時，雲集了將近50萬黑人的底特律自然是金博士活動的重鎮。1963年6月23日，卡瓦納市長與金博士一起參加了底特律走向自由的大遊行，大約12萬5千人參加了這次史無前例的和平遊行，金博士發表了重要的演說。這次遊行被史學家們認為是兩個月後華盛頓遊行（20-30萬人參加了這次遊行，並導致了1964年2月民權法案的通過）的預演，在1963年8月28日的華盛頓遊行中，金博士做了“我有一個夢”的著名演講。兩次演講的詞句有很多相似之處（見下表，左為底特律演說，右為華盛頓演講）
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"Almost one hundred and one years ago, on September the 22nd, 1862, to be exact, a great and noble American, Abraham Lincoln, signed an executive order, which was to take effect on January the first, 1863. This executive order was called the Emancipation Proclamation and it served to free the Negro from the bondage of physical slavery. But one hundred years later, the Negro in the United States of America still isn't free." [7] |
"Fivescore years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation […] But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination."[8] |
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"And so we must say, now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to transform this pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our nation. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of racial justice." [7] |
"Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood."[8] |
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"And so this afternoon, I have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream […] I have a dream that one day, right down in Georgia and Mississippi and Alabama, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to live together as brothers. I have a dream this afternoon that one day, one day little white children and little Negro children will be able to join hands as brothers and sisters […] I have a dream this afternoon that my four little children, that my four little children will not come up in the same young days that I came up within, but they will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not the color of their skin… I have a dream this evening that one day we will recognize the words of Jefferson that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and "every valley shall be exalted, and every hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." […] And with this faith I will go out and carve a tunnel of hope through the mountain of despair. With this faith, I will go out with you and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. With this faith, we will be able to achieve this new day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing with the Negroes in the spiritual of old: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!" [7] |
"I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. 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 […] I have a dream that one day "every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low; the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." […] With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood… And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"[8] |
在我看來，金博士領導的民權運動在美國得到了各階層各族裔的廣泛支持，就在於消除歧視人人平等是每個有良知的人的自然渴望，非暴力抗爭的實踐也贏得了人們的尊重。現在的黑命貴運動想用打砸搶燒的手段為黑人贏得更多的福利和特殊照顧，隻能讓別的族裔對黑人更加反感，底特律過去60年的曆史已經證明這一點。
且說一心想為黑人辦事的卡瓦納市長，因為緩和了種族矛盾，降低了失業率，1965年高票連任。當時底特律的黑人40%擁有自己的住房，失業率3.4%，這兩項指標都是全美城市黑人中最好的。1966年他參加了約翰遜總統發起的模範城市項目（Model Cities Program），這項試驗準備用五年時間在150個城市推行各種旨在消除貧困改善市政的措施。底特律是參與該項目最大的城市之一，獲得了4億9千萬美元的聯邦撥款，市民們（無論白人黑人）組成公民管理董事會利用這筆錢改善市政設施，修建廉價住房，提升經濟。正當卡瓦納市長躊躇滿誌地準備大幹一場時，1967年的黑人暴亂徹底斷送了底特律的前途。
1967年7月23日（周日）淩晨3：45分，警察突襲了底特律12街的一家無照酒館， 逮捕了全部在場的82人。警察離開後，酒館周圍的看客們開始搶劫，然後參與搶劫的人越來越多，有些白人也參加了，底特律大亂。當時底特律市和密西根州的警力已無法平息暴亂，應州長羅姆尼和卡瓦納市長的要求，約翰遜總統派出了82和101兩個空降師對底特律實行軍管才穩住了陣腳。這次曆時五天的暴亂造成43人死亡（33個黑人，10個白人）, 7200多人被捕，5000多人無家可歸， 2509家商鋪被搶，412棟建築被徹底燒毀。暴亂過後，白人紛紛逃離底特律，很多人甚至棄房而逃，至今在底特律市裏還能看到不少沒有門窗的廢棄房屋。到2010年，底特律總人口71萬（1950年時185萬），其中黑人59萬，占比83%，犯罪率常年名列全美第一。
雖然黑人的暴力抗議贏得了一些政策福利，但並沒有徹底改變黑人的命運，有些福利政策還導致黑人更加墮落，如給單親媽媽的福利導致70%的黑人孩子出生在單親家庭裏。在底特律經常看到一個黑人母親帶著五六個不同父親的孩子靠吃福利生活，這樣家庭的孩子們長大後也隻能繼續吃福利。可惜金博士1968年被暗殺後，再無有遠見的黑人領袖提出建設性的主張促進種族融合，大家合作共贏。
順便說一句，2010年後，在政府和許多社會力量的努力下，底特律在慢慢複興，大家不要再用老眼光看底特律了。
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