Study: 68% of MLK’s Dream Has Come True

WASHINGTON, DC – As laid out in a new study by the Dream Analysis Foundation (DAA), a field of scientists has discovered that approximately 68% of Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech has come true. The report was conducted to commemorate the 50 year anniversary of when Mr. King relayed his dream to 250,000 civil rights supporters after the March on Washington on August 28^th, 1963. Analysts compared details of his dream to the current environment and found that a little more than two thirds of his predictions have come to fruition in the present day.

Dr. Jonathan Bunge and his team took an in-depth look at each prophecy. “For example,” explained Mr. Bunge, “African-Americans can gain lodging in the ‘motels of the highways and hotels of the city.’ And they’re no longer subjected to ‘For Whites Only’ signs. And sure, an African-American in Mississippi can vote, and we’re pretty sure an African-American in New York ‘believes he has something to vote for,’ especially in these last two elections. But has justice ‘rolled down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream’? Not according to our research, no.”

Some of the dream’s forecasts were a little more difficult to pin down from an analytical stand-point. MLK imagined that someday we all “will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.” And while many of those premonitions are technically true, the report points out the difficulties of deeming them realized. While blacks and whites do in fact “work together,” only 6 of the Fortune 500 CEOs are African-American; and while blacks and whites do “go to jail together,” a disproportionate majority of those inmates are “definitely black” according to the DAF’s press release.

The study’s findings have not come without controversy. Many white Americans were surprised that the 68% number was so low while many blacks felt it was far too high. “Didn’t he dream of a black president?” asked a 58-year old white male who asked to remain unnamed. “Obama. Boom. 100% done.” Meanwhile, 65-year old African-American Jeffry Jones said that while he has definitely seen progress over the past 50 years, he gets judged by the content of his character rather than the color of his skin only 42% of the time.

One of the report’s highlights was regarding children. During one of the team’s field studies, Dr. Bunge recalled seeing a group of “little black boys and black girls” holding hands with “little white boys and white girls” playing on an elementary school playground in a situation very similar to what Dr. King predicted. However, based on follow-up interviews, the children were simply good friends and not “sisters and brothers.” “And they’ weren't in Alabama. So, again, only partly true.”

“We did this study to find some concrete evidence on racism,” said Dr. Bunge. “America loves stats, and we felt this would be a great way to show how the country was doing with respect to the Reverend Martin Luther King’s very worthy vision of what American can be. And we’d like to say to the United States that based on our findings, no, you’re absolutely not failing. But you’re definitely getting a D.”

“Maybe a C- on a curve.”

Maybe he was 32% kidding?