Integrity

This week dealt with character, integrity, leadership and standing up for what you believe in. Many people state what they believe in but their actions never actually back their words up. In the same breathe many people are just blind to the things that happen around them until it actually affects them personally. Not many people can walk in the opposite direction when the crowd is going the other way. Very few stand their ground and do not fall for conformity.

A great example of a man who stood up for what he believed in was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. He not only walked the walk, but he talked the talk. He received many things in his honor one being the Noble Peace Prize. He received that prize because he stood by his acts of non-violence.

An excellent quote to confirm his actions stated, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that”. That quote alone said a lot about the character of Dr. King. It simply means that resorting to senseless hate crimes as those that were imposed upon the minorities. He’s basically saying that two rights don’t make a wrong, and that the only way to right that wrong is to do the RIGHT thing. The right thing for him was to come in peace.

Dr. King was a moral management leader. According to Bowman and West (2015) the motives of a good leader is defined as: “wanting to succeed but only within the confines of sound ethical precepts (fairness, justice, due process). Success within the confines of legal obedience and ethical standards”. This is in a nutshell everything that Dr. King stood for; never once did he lead his followers into anything that broke any ethical laws. The laws that he did attempt to break where those that where unjust in many ways.

An awesome example of integrity was displayed in the movie Remember the Titans. If you haven’t seen the movie it is a must watch; in the meantime check out the clip below…

 In order to give your opinion on this clip one must know the true definition of integrity. Integrity is simply the quality of being honest are fair. Remember the Titans is based on the true story of the 1971 Virginia state football champions from T.C. Williams High School. The school became integrated at a time of segregation, and of course the town did not like that idea. Gary could have easily taken up for Ray simply because both of them are Caucasian and they are good friends. Instead he decided to do what was right as a captain. He knew that Ray intentionally missed that block; he could have make excuses to justify Rays' actions. 

A more familiar issue that hits home for me is the utilization of the “N” word. It offends me more as an African American when people of my own race use it against each other. To me they are not being leaders and setting an example for the people they wish to make the statement to. In addition, as a black male I would never go around calling anyone out of their name. This goes with the old saying, “do unto others as you want done unto you”. Growing up I was always taught not to use the “N” word even when speaking to friends etc in the comfort of our community. In many rap songs this word is exhaustively used; this to me is being a hypocrite.

We should always look in the mirror at ourselves before we ask why certain things are happening. We should ask ourselves a few things. (1) Am I assisting with things that I disagree with? (2) Have I done anything to help right this wrong? (3) Am I practicing what I preach? If you cannot answer any of these questions correctly then you should not expect anyone to give you the respect that you are not giving yourself. 

We should all take a page out of Dr. King’s book. We may never accomplish the things he did on a national level however we can promote growth on a personal level. If we ever want to become public administrators we must start with ourselves. If we cannot do that we should not seek to be in this field.