the content of your character

This was part of a line from Martin Luther King's Letter From Birmingham Jail. He actually said he longed for the day when his children and grandchildren would be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

We have a great example of just this just now. We have a man of color running for the Democratic presidential nomination, and he has revealed the content of his character. This is exactly what my resume book addresses. What on earth have you and I done, what do we stand for, what words of courage and imagination do we use every day to become more fully human, to edge just a tiny bit closer to the truth, to earn our "living" with the level of dignity we so long to deserve?

Since Senator Obama's brilliant and subtle speech, I have become more outspoken, more willing to say what can't be said for fear of offending, more willing to stand in my own truth and let it be that someone will get a nose out of joint. Thank you, Senator. This bloody battle with the Senator from New York might be worth it, if only a few people start to speak up about the hidden fever of racial tension we still experience in the US.