Martin Luther King, Jr. once said:

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.

It is a noble dream, and one I want to see within my lifetime. There is no reason why we can’t live in an open and free society without being shackled by our skin color. “Red and yellow, black and white, they’re all precious in His sight,” is how the old children’s’ song goes, highlighting how our skin color shouldn’t matter in our relationships and interactions with those of different racial background. This is the goal of King, but I don’t think we’ll achieve it with policies such as Affirmative Action and race-based Hate Crime legislation in the books.

King wanted people to be judged based upon their merit and quality of work, and not by any special “bonus” because they are a minority. Affirmative action did a lot to quickly integrate the whites and blacks together in the workplace and in schools, but now qualified individuals get passed up because of self-imposed quotas, fearing the risk of negative reputations if their workforce doesn’t match the demographics of the nearby communities. Take the National Football League (NFL) as an example. They have the “Rooney Rule” on their books, where they must interview at least one minority for head coaching and football operations positions. It doesn’t matter if they’ve already decided on the hire ahead of time, making this minority a “token” interview rather than a serious candidate. Is that what King wanted? Of course not.

As far as hate crimes go, what is the point of having a two-tiered punishment scale just because the person happens to be a different race? Is it less of a crime if the two persons involved are of the same race? What is the difference between a white man killing a black man (or vice versa) and a white man killing another white man? The end result is someone dying. The punishment should be the same, since the law is suppose to be blind (hence the statue of Lady Justice holding a scale while wearing a blindfold).

These examples above just continue to the division between the races rather than bringing them together. Of course we will never reach a point where the two races are completely blind to the color of their skins (you will still have racist groups similar to the Ku Klux Klan and the Black Panthers running around), but we will get to the point where organizations such as the NAACP cease to be relevant. Some of this will come about as the races continue to blend together through marriage and procreation, but the majority of the change will come from maturity.

I have a dream, Dr. King. I have a dream of a color-blind society before my life ends. My hope is that those who profess to act on your behalf share that dream (no matter their racial background).

No, there are no tall blue people sitting in Congress. No, there aren’t 1,000+ page bills being passed around on the moon Pandora. The bond between these two is a young candidate for Congress named Krystal Ball.

On Christmas night, I decided to head to the movie theaters to catch the 10:45pm showing of “Avatar” in 3-D on the IMAX screen. As I walked toward the queue to purchase my ticket, a young man wearing a campaign badge asking if I was there to watch “Avatar” approached me. I acknowledged yes, and he motioned me inside, saying that I could get a $1.00 discount off the price.

Walking in, there were two ladies sitting at a table accepting money and handing out 3-D glasses. While I was waiting in line, I looked around to find some information on who was providing the discount. There was a pamphlet on the table with the name “Krystal Ball” printed on it. When it was my turn to purchase a ticket, I looked at the two ladies and asked the obvious question of “Who is Krystal Ball?” Expecting a sales pitch, the younger of the two ladies reached across the table to shake my hand, identifying herself as Krystal.

I didn’t get a sales pitch other than the fact that she was running for the Democratic nomination in Virginia’s first congressional district (also known as America’s first congressional district). Other than thanking her for the discount and wishing her the best on her campaign, I walked away with knowing little about her. She is a 28 year-old CPA running against retired Army Colonel Scott Robinson for the nomination.

I found it interesting that she chose the highly anticipated movie as part of her campaign. The movie had already been out for a week in the theaters, and I was attending the last showing for the night on Christmas, so you would think that her target audience would be lower than if it was on opening weekend. However, the theater was packed, meaning she introduced herself to many potential voters. Strangely enough, the theater is actually outside of the congressional district she is campaigning for, though it is the closest one with the IMAX showing of the movie.

As a campaign gimmick, I think it worked out well for her, simply because I did not know of her campaign prior to that night. And though she is not in my district, I’ll be interested in questioning her on her positions while tracking her progress during the primary. If you ever run for public office, this might be an event you could consider in your campaign.

Merry Christmas, everyone. For our non-Christian friends and family, we wish the joys of the season upon you all. Take care if you are traveling, and may the New Year bring you new opportunities and wonderful surprises.

The blizzard of 2009 passed through my neck of the woods, dumping over 20 inches of snow on my house (and my car) starting Friday night and ending Saturday night. This is the largest snowfall we’ve had since the blizzard of 1996. In both 1996 and 2009, I was fortunate enough not be traveling at the time (as you can tell by my snow-covered car). Unfortunately, thousands of our citizens and residents were, with many of them ending up in car accidents.

Reading through the news today, the accident totals are just mind boggling. Here is just a sample of the accident totals I’ve read about:

Surry County, NC:  More than 300 accidents
Haywood County, NC:  Almost 1,000 accidents
Virginia:  More than 2,900 accidents

It is hard to put all the blame on the drivers, as blizzard conditions can mask road hazards such as black ice, potholes, unmarked or poorly marked lanes, and so on. However, much the drivers share the bulk of the burden for driving too fast, breaking too hard, tailgating, and simply being on the road when they didn’t need to be. Many of these accidents are easily avoidable, but result in increased insurance premiums for them and us alike. Hopefully they were carrying quality car insurance at the time.

These accidents remind me of the 100-car pile-up in Virginia back in 2001. A sudden whiteout masked I-95 Southbound in the Prince William County/Stafford County region. What started out as a single accident between a car and a semi led to a chain reaction of 100 cars running into the cars in front of them due to the lack of visibility and slippery road conditions. I had an employee who was traveling Southbound at the time who was stuck behind the mess, taking my employee an additional three hours till they made it home.

In the future folks, please pay attention to the road conditions, and stay home if at all possible. If you do have to go on the road, turn on your headlights (not just your daytime running lights), slow down, and keep a wide gap between you and the car in front of you. Responsible driving will reduce your odds of getting into a car accident and save your money in the long run.

It is hard to believe, but the holidays are just a month away.  So I want to push this out to you now while you have enough time to act.

If you are interested, there are numerous sites offering you ways to send holiday cards and letters to our troops stationed overseas, especially for those in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Being stations and in harms way during the holidays, thousands of miles away from their family and friends, is difficult at the least.  So in the season of giving, take a few minutes and give back to these brave men and women a token of your appreciation.

Some of the organizations that are coordinating card and letter events are:

Red Cross – “Holiday Mail for Heroes”

XEROX – “Let’s Say Thanks”

You can also send them electronic communications:

Easter Seals – Send an eCard

And to help the troops view these messages:

USO – “Operation Mail Call”

But the best way to help our troops this season to help them get back in touch with their loved ones.  You can help by donating calling cards so the troops can phone home during the holidays:

USO – “Operation Phone Home”

AAFES – Military prepaid calling cards

Take a moment and check out these programs and do what you can to help our troops this holiday season.