By:Marc H. Morial
President and CEO
National Urban League
Watching "Citizen King,"the documentary broadcast on Public Service Television this week about the last five years of the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., was to see once again why, while we live in the present and look toward the future, we must never cease discussing the past.
For all that is known about him, and the obstacles he faced, this documentary underscores just how tough things got for Martin Luther King the man and Martin Luther King the civil rights leader after his great "public"achievements of delivering the "I Have A Dream"speech at the March on Washington in 1963 and of being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
One comes away with a fresh appreciation of King as both man and leader.
For he avoided the temptations of "going along"with the powerful, including President Lyndon Baines Johnson, who would support him as long as he did not raise "uncomfortable"questions about other issues besides civil rights.
Instead, King, hounded by the Federal Bureau of Investigation who had evidence of his infidelities, deliberately chose a hard, perilous path.
He deliberately chose to focus on the other great controversy of the 1960s—America's military involvement in Southeast Asia—and on issues of economic justice for all Americans at home.
That choice brought him into conflict not only with the Johnson Administration, but with many of his erstwhile white supporters, and, on occasion, with some of his colleagues among the civil rights leadership.
As several notable books have done, "Citizen King"presents a far more complex portrait of Martin Luther King, Jr. than has been fashionable to acknowledge in some quarters for much of the past two decades.
But that cardboard-cut-out figure of carefully-edited sound bites is fast disappearing as more and more people read and speak the truth about what he said and did in the years before the assassin's bullet struck him in Memphis in 1968.
It's still astonishing to realize that Martin Luther King, Jr. was just 39 when he died. He would have turned 75 years old January 15, and the state of "The Dream" today would be clearer to us because its chief interpreter would be alive to assess the progress made toward its realization.
Martin Luther King, Jr. spoke of the Dream in words that counseled peace and compassion. But, as "Citizen King"makes clear, now as then, there's no mistaking the revolutionary intent of their–and his–character.
That's why his words, at the March on Washington and in dozens of other places along the civil rights trail down to the last full night of his life, continue to thrill and inspire. The values they assert remain compelling because they are so deeply rooted in the American Dream.
Yes, in many different and wonderful ways, America has moved closer to Dr. King's Dream.
But certainly no one who watches "Citizen King"—or thinks about the great and small issues we face would think that the 75-year-old Martin Luther King, Jr. would be complacent.
For one thing, he would declare it a grievous wrong that federal district court judge Charles W. Pickering, Sr. now holds a federal appeals court seat.
Judge Pickering, first nominated for the appeals court by President Bush in 2001, was twice rejected by the Senate over several issues, including his egregious efforts while a federal judge to gain leniency for a man convicted in 1994 of burning an eight-foot-tall cross on the lawn of an interracial couple.
Last week, however, in the midst of the Congressional recess and as the King birthday celebrations were getting underway, Mr. Bush used the president's legitimate authority to make appointments during Congressional recesses to fill vacancies to give Judge Pickering the seat he could not gain through the normal Senate confirmation process.
Martin Luther King, Jr. would also declare that we ignore at our nation's great peril the enormous gaps in equality that continue to exist.
Today, the unemployment rate for African Americans is nearly double that of whites. The infant mortality rate for African Americans is twice that of white infants. The median annual income for black workers is $34,192, compared to $53, 256 for whites. Home ownership rates among black families are 65-percent lower than that of white families. And, in thirteen states, there are more black men in prison than attending college.
The Martin Luther King, Jr. who challenged America to "Let Freedom ring!" would urge us to hold fast to our belief in the essential goodness of human beings.
But he would also thunder that America's best days lie ahead only if we close the "equality gaps" in education and jobs and income that still prevent so many from truly fulfilling that dream deeply rooted in the American dream—the full exercise of their American citizenship.
Enviroshop is maintained by dedicated NetSys Interactive Inc. owners & employees who generously contribute their time to maintenance & editing, web design, custom programming, & website hosting for Enviroshop.