Sunday I saw the commercial with Halle Berry. No, not some Mabelline commercial. The one where she walks into a trendy restaurant and is greeted by a glowering hostess. She and her companion are whisked, smiling, through the restaurant, to a back room. But it�s not a VIP room; it�s poorly decorated and cramped, but Halle takes her seat happily. And while the camera pans to a sign on the wall that says �Colored Section�, a voice-over asks, �What would the world be like if Martin Luther King Jr. never had a dream?�

Let me answer that with: �Not much different than it is now.�

I agree that MLK was a great man. What he did was brilliant, and took amazing courage and determination. He was a visionary and a great speaker. He paid for his convictions with his life. There is no doubt he should be admired, and possibly celebrated. But to continue to say, over 3 decades later, that he was the only reason the world changed is ridiculous to me.

Are you telling me that nobody else would have stood up to discrimination? That there would have been no one to rise to the occasion and end Jim Crow laws? That black people would still be eating in separate rooms, drinking from separate fountains and sitting in the back of the bus in the year 2004 if it hadn't been solely for the actions of this one man?

Come on. That's insulting to generations of people who have fought racism. It�s insulting to the other black leaders that fought along side Dr. King, and continued the fight after his death. It�s insulting to today�s leaders to suggest that they would endorse and enforce those laws today. It�s insulting to me.

It makes me wonder, �Who is benefiting from the continuous publicity campaign to beatify Martin Luther King, Jr.?� He already has a national holiday honoring him. He's the only person of the 20th Century to receive that honor. And I can�t help noticing that he�s also the only person to receive that honor whose words and likeness are licensed commodities.

And if Halle Berry wants me to believe that she would happily accept that seat in the back of the restaurant, well, then she deserves that seat.

When I got to the office this morning, I realized that I was out of the breakfast bars I normally keep in my desk. So I began to hope for someone to bring in treats. I wondered, �What sorts of treats are appropriate to Martin Luther King Jr. Day?� Which of course then begged the question, "What sorts of treats would we have if Martin Luther King Jr. never had a dream?"

The answer was obvious: a platter of white Club Crackers with brownies on a separate plate in the back.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day everybody. Remember the man. In context, please.