#MLK: Was it all a dream?

I walked into Tiffanys looking to buy my girlfriend a special birthday gift. It was August. The dog days of summer, as they say. I arrived at the downtown Toronto location straight from work, dressed in a shirt and tie combo. The salesman was extremely hospitable. My girl loved the ring and its was mission accomplished.

On Valentines Day, I decided to compliment her original ring with a pendant I saw in Tiffanys online catalog. This time, I was dressed in my regular street gear, since it was casual Friday @ work. I was immediately greeted by security, escorted swiftly to the appropriate department and received a detailed explanation of the return/exchange policy.

The time around, the salesperson made every attempt to process this transaction as quickly as possible and have me exit the store. That is, until he asked my name and noticed I was a returning customer. I was then showered with smiles and laughs as he cranked up the hospitality, much to my disinterest.

Systemic racism? Racial Profiling? Maybe. Maybe not. What's clear is that we all (Black, White, Asian, Muslim, Jew, etc) are guilty of not carrying the torch passed forward by Dr. Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X and countless others from their civil rights generation.

We continue to judge others based on the color of their skin instead of the content of their character. As long as we continue to glorify ignorance, nothing will change. Dr. Kings efforts will be all in vain  and it will truly be "just a dream".
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