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He laid the foundation for justice
While celebrating the holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it is easy to fall into reflexive tribute instead of considering the meaning of his life and work.
A Times Editorial
Published January 17, 2005
He was a preacher and Nobel Peace Prize winner who wanted to be remembered as a drum major for justice. He was at the head of historic civil rights marches that touched the nation's conscience and broke the back of legal segregation in the South. The movement he inspired and led put landmark civil rights legislation on the books. King's list of accomplishments have enshrined him as the nation's greatest civil rights leader, with a legacy visible in everything from the rising tide of black CEOs to the record number of black people age 25 or over who have earned high school diplomas (at 80 percent in 2003).
, Most recently, efforts by Mississippi officials to prosecute the men involved in the unsolved slayings of three civil rights workers in 1964 reflect the enduring spirit of King's work. Forty years ago, local law enforcement help shield the likely suspects; this month a grand jury indicted a reputed Ku Klux Klansman for the murders after a series of newspaper articles moved Mississippi's attorney general to reopen the case.
While closure of old wounds is important, all Americans should dedicate themselves to building on the foundation Dr. King laid. Without the obvious drama of segregated lunch counters and brutal law enforcement oppression, the struggle has shifted from the streets to school rooms and board rooms, to affordable housing and jobs, to health care and incarceration rates.
A few years before an assassin's bullet ended his life at age 39, King began to speak out against the Vietnam War; in the year of his death, he helped organize a poor people's March on Washington to draw more attention to economic justice issues. He understood that civil rights laws, by themselves, were not enough.
As the parades and breakfasts commemorating King's birth unfold today, they serve as poignant reminders of how far we have come and how far we have to go to realize his dream. His eloquent words still touch the nation's conscience and lift us to higher ground, and his values endure. There is no higher tribute than our acknowledgment that Martin Luther King Jr. made us a better nation.
[Last modified January 17, 2005, 01:05:20]
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