Today, on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., U.S. President Barack Obama marked the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s I Have a Dream speech by reminding Americans that the civil rights leader’s vision was “just a dream” and “not necessarily representative of an eventual reality.”
“Fifty years ago, on the night before he marched on these steps, Dr. King had a dream,” said Obama. “It was a good dream, and that’s why we remember it. But like with all dreams, we must understand that it is neither realistic nor necessarily achievable.”
Obama told the audience of tens of thousands that, while dreams can be fun and “sometimes sexy,” they are “also not real.”
“Dreams are a wonderful thing,” he said. “Dreams keep hope alive. But as I’m sure you’ve all experienced in your own lives, dreams don’t often come true.
“When I was a kid, I wanted to be a firefighter. Obviously that didn’t pan out.”
Obama said it was “probably best” that King’s vision never fully reach fruition, because if everyone was judged by the content of their character, “no one would be treated very well at all.”
Nonetheless, Obama acknowledged that Dr. King’s vision of racial harmony in America and throughout the world was “a nice idea,” but he didn’t have time to stick around and talk about it, as he had an important meeting about war.
Former President Bill Clinton also delivered a speech at today’s event, in which he recounted at length one of his own dreams while touching himself.