Fleecy locks and black complexion
Cannot forfeit nature’s claim.
Skin may differ, but affection
Dwells in black and white the same.
Were I so tall as to reach the pole
Or to grasp at the ocean at a span,
I must be measured by my soul
The mind is the standard of the man.

…God loves all of his children, and…all men are made in His image, and…figuratively speaking, every man from a bass-black to a treble-white is significant on God’s keyboard.
__mlkjr.

I find it interesting that you end it on that line, “the mind is the standard of the man”. I guess what you mean is, something like, choice for god is what measures a man, but lets not pretend it is “the mind” that poem is talking about. That is something quite different. What is meant is FAITH is the measure of the man. The mental faculties are quite separate from the faithful ones.

Also, I am not sure if you wrote this or MLK. In any case,
I can hardly think of anything less illuminating about race than reading a speech by Martin Luther King (Though I do generally agree with his assertion of the togetherness of the races completely apart from the religious element of the “soul”).

Perhaps I misunderstood this whole thing. Don’t know. Anyways, take care.

My Response

You’re right, skin color isn’t the point.

“I must be measured by my soul
The mind is the standard of the man.”

Perhaps you’re right. He is assuming the existence of God, that he created humans, the faith in God, and the standards by which God measures humans. And it assumes that God created us with a “soul”, which is what is meant by “in the image of God”.

The exterior (body, skin color, etc.) has nothing to do with the “image of God”. And I’ve been arguing with myself for several years over the idea that the “soul” is a different thing from the “mind”. I’m not sure. Because being in the “image of God” means the creating, choice-making, loving, blah blah aspect of God.
And technically the “mind” is what does all that.

i digress….
I didn’t write it though; he did. However, I am a sucker for dynamic speeches, preachings and ’soulful’ word performances. So I enjoy his speeches any time of the year.

And of course I agree with his and others’ desire for the unity of humanity. However, the “soul” part to which you’re probably referring goes hand in hand.

That, of course, is because I believe we are created by this God, in His image.

so in a sense, perhaps “faith” is what he might’ve meant. but faith isn’t separate from the choice to live for God. Or rather, to realize/know/accept/believe that God exists and he has a purpose for this big Story we call Life, is to put your entire being into this cause and purpose. Because outside of it there is no purpose or meaning. faith is inevitably a part of the human experience, including the mind.

This “meaning” entails the compassion, unity, peace, love, responsibility, and action demanded of our ’soul’. or mind, I guess.

that effort as an individual would be the standard by which we are measured to this God.

and since MLKjr was obviously speaking within the context of a racially-stirred turmoil, and through the filter/lens of christianity, he uses the illustration of the keyboard and God - that all people, from bass-black to treble-white, are equal and valuable creations of God.

i talk too much. Good conversation starter.