Leaders across U.S. reflect on embodying King’s message

Presidential hopefuls link arms, march in honor of slain activist.

Blade news services
Mon, 20 Jan 2020 23:05:09 GMT

link -- with images

ATLANTA — Against the backdrop of a presidential election year, Monday’s Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday featured leaders still wrestling over how to best embody the slain civil rights leader.

In Atlanta, Republicans told a crowd at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Reverend King’s onetime church, that they were honoring his legacy of service and political empowerment.

Democrats found more favor by highlighting the ways they said the current political and social order calls for more radical action in line with Reverend King’s principles.

In Washington, President Trump sought to stamp his mark on the commemoration.

He and Vice President Mike Pence made a brief visit to the Martin Luther King, Jr., Memorial in the nation’s capital.

Mr. Pence also spoke at the Holy City Church of God in Christ about Reverend King’s religion and how he “challenged the conscience of a nation to live up to our highest ideals by speaking to our common foundation of faith.”

Acknowledging the nation’s divisions, Mr. Pence said that if Americans rededicate themselves to the ideals that Reverend King advanced while striving to open opportunities for everyone, “we’ll see our way through these divided times and we’ll do our part in our time to form a more perfect union.”

Earlier in the day, Mr. Trump posted on Twitter, noting that it was the third anniversary of his inauguration:

“So appropriate that today is also MLK jr DAY. African-American Unemployment is the LOWEST in the history of our Country, by far. Also, best Poverty, Youth, and Employment numbers, ever. Great!”

In Atlanta, Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, appointed last month by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, said her upbringing on an Illinois farm was touched by Reverend King.

“Dr. King’s call to service, to sacrifice, to put others first, it shaped our home and inspired us to ask what Dr. King asked the world. ‘What are you doing for others?‘” Ms. Loeffler said.

One of Ms. Loeffler’s Democratic opponents in a November special election could be the Rev. Raphael Warnock, the current pastor at Ebenezer, which Reverend King and his father once led.

Mr. Warnock said that honoring Reverend King means more than just voicing “lip service” on one weekend a year.

“Everyone wants to be seen standing where Dr. King stood. That’s fine, you’re welcome,” Mr. Warnock said. “But if today you would stand in this holy place, where Dr. King stood, make sure, that come tomorrow, we’ll find you standing where Dr. King stood.”

In South Carolina, Democratic presidential candidates walked shoulder to shoulder through the streets of the state capital city to honor the legacy of Reverend King.

Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren shook hands at Zion Baptist Church, then linked arms as they marched with the other candidates later in the morning. From there, the candidates marched to the Statehouse, a building steeped in the history of South Carolina’s racial struggles.

For a few hours at least, the squabbling among the White House hopefuls gave way to a united condemnation of how they perceive Mr. Trump has handled America’s racial divide.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar said there aren’t “‘many sides’ to blame when one side is the Ku Klux Klan,” referencing his comments following a deadly 2017 clash between white supremacists and anti-racist demonstrators in Charlottesville, Va.

Former Vice President Joe Biden, who has said he decided to run in 2020 following the violence in Charlottesville, said Mr. Trump has “given oxygen” to racism.

Ms. Warren pledged to work toward what she characterized as a more tolerant society.

Former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, the lone remaining black candidate in the race, said progress made during the Civil Rights Movement has been stymied by Mr. Trump.

Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, marched and attended a prayer service in South Carolina but left for Iowa before the speaking program began.

link