I have a dream. I dream of the day that Martin Luther King Jr’s dream comes true.

I am not ashamed to be an American, but I am disappointed in my peers. We have it all. We have smartphones, laptops, cars, clothes, shoes, and opportunities to be great. We have the privilege of great education system. Some people in this country have nothing. No homes, no jobs, no cars and little hope. They have to live on food stamps and some families are sleeping in a different place every night. Can you truly imagine that? We have it all, but what we seem to forget is respect.

President Barack Obama became our 44th president of the United States of America and people express their views by saying, posting, and tweeting, “I am moving to Canada”, “Sick to my stomach,” “It was nice knowing you America,” and “I am ashamed to be an American.” These words of disrespect make me write, make me think: Is this the beginning to the end? The end of the empire? Our people are torn. Our people are selfish. Our president is disrespected with words that one may find hateful. It seems to me that our neighbors will not lend us sugar anymore.

Overseas bombs are going off, families want to leave but cannot. Kids are shaken, shaken with fear. They cannot vote for their leader. They make do with what is given. We seem to forget this, forget that we have freedom.
In America, people are mad because they did not get their way. When others are out on the streets, jobless, homeless and hopeless, the only thing on their mind is what to do to survive. It seems that we are only thinking of ourselves, our story. What about your neighbor’s story? What about the person on the street’s story? The empire will fall in this lifetime or the next, but we will fall, as Rome fell.

We must become one empire, one republic, one country. But if our people are torn and cannot come together as one and care for our neighbors and our people, we will fall faster. We do not only disrespect our leader, but we limit civil rights. Gays are people too. As hip hop artist, Macklemore, put it in his song, Same Love, “I might not be the same, but that’s not important/No freedom till we’re equal, d*** right I support it.” Even though Macklemore is not gay, he still respects gays as people.

The fall of the empire is not because of the leadership, but of the people. No matter what political party you support or what ethnicity you are, we must care about our people, not just ourselves. We must allow everyone to be equal. Today, I am not ashamed to be an American. I am ashamed that my peers think nothing of others, instead only thinking about themselves.

I have a dream. I dream of the day that Martin Luther King Jr’s dream comes true.

Peter Makarov, Sports Editor, The Spartan Speaks