King Memorial is Good for America
By Brother Rogers
2011 marks a major milestone with the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. To borrow a phrase from another American icon whose likeness is etched in stone nearby, “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. was the undisputed leader of the civil rights movement. This grassroots movement, which practiced his philosophy and discipline of nonviolence, finally made the Declaration of Independence and its notions of freedom and equality apply to the descendants of slaves. Like Lincoln, King gave his life for a new birth of freedom.
Before King’s success, black Americans were not considered equal citizens with the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As a result of his leadership, black citizens today can realize the dream King articulated so well at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963.
King’s legacy is that he completed the task of fully democratizing American society. In the not too distant past, this was a task which seemed as impossible as it was unthinkable, especially in Mississippi.
The history of America is the story of a progressive expansion of freedom to eventually include all our citizens. During our nation’s first century, Lincoln did more to expand freedom than anyone else. In our second century, no one advanced the cause of freedom and equality more than Martin Luther King, Jr. Both deserve, and now have, their own place of recognition on the National Mall.
One measure of how far we have come is the fact that, in these divisive times we live in, even conservative commentators believe that our country needs a King Memorial.
Charles Krauthammer, one of the most respected conservative pundits in America, wrote, “Black America’s righteous revolt against a century of post-emancipation oppression could have gone in many bitter and destructive directions. It did not. This was largely the work of one man’s leadership, moral imagination and strategic genius. He turned his own deeply Christian belief that ‘unearned suffering is redemptive’ into a creed of nonviolence that he carved into America’s political consciousness. The result was not just racial liberation but national redemption.”
He continued, “Such an achievement, such a life, deserves a monument alongside the other miracles of our history – Lincoln, Jefferson and FDR – which is precisely where stands the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.”
The Mississippi of today is unrecognizable compared to the one in Dr. King’s time. Certainly, his dream has not been completely fulfilled. African Americans in particular are plagued with too much poverty and powerlessness. But my son lives in a better society than the one I grew up in. And my upbringing in a desegregated society was more just and fair than the closed society that existed when my parents were children.
With more work to be done, the trend line is headed in the right direction. Or as Dr. King himself said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Just last month, Mississippi nominated a black man as a major party’s candidate for governor. We have made tremendous progress battling racism and creating a society that more fully lives up to our founding ideals. How did we get here to this better place? One man who lived his life and then gave his life so that we might enjoy this better life was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. To honor his memory in stone on America’s sacred ground, the National Mall, is both fitting and proper.
Brother Rogers works at the Stennis Center for Public Service and is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News.
2011 marks a major milestone with the dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. To borrow a phrase from another American icon whose likeness is etched in stone nearby, “It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. was the undisputed leader of the civil rights movement. This grassroots movement, which practiced his philosophy and discipline of nonviolence, finally made the Declaration of Independence and its notions of freedom and equality apply to the descendants of slaves. Like Lincoln, King gave his life for a new birth of freedom.
Before King’s success, black Americans were not considered equal citizens with the inalienable right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. As a result of his leadership, black citizens today can realize the dream King articulated so well at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963.
King’s legacy is that he completed the task of fully democratizing American society. In the not too distant past, this was a task which seemed as impossible as it was unthinkable, especially in Mississippi.
The history of America is the story of a progressive expansion of freedom to eventually include all our citizens. During our nation’s first century, Lincoln did more to expand freedom than anyone else. In our second century, no one advanced the cause of freedom and equality more than Martin Luther King, Jr. Both deserve, and now have, their own place of recognition on the National Mall.
One measure of how far we have come is the fact that, in these divisive times we live in, even conservative commentators believe that our country needs a King Memorial.
Charles Krauthammer, one of the most respected conservative pundits in America, wrote, “Black America’s righteous revolt against a century of post-emancipation oppression could have gone in many bitter and destructive directions. It did not. This was largely the work of one man’s leadership, moral imagination and strategic genius. He turned his own deeply Christian belief that ‘unearned suffering is redemptive’ into a creed of nonviolence that he carved into America’s political consciousness. The result was not just racial liberation but national redemption.”
He continued, “Such an achievement, such a life, deserves a monument alongside the other miracles of our history – Lincoln, Jefferson and FDR – which is precisely where stands the new Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.”
The Mississippi of today is unrecognizable compared to the one in Dr. King’s time. Certainly, his dream has not been completely fulfilled. African Americans in particular are plagued with too much poverty and powerlessness. But my son lives in a better society than the one I grew up in. And my upbringing in a desegregated society was more just and fair than the closed society that existed when my parents were children.
With more work to be done, the trend line is headed in the right direction. Or as Dr. King himself said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
Just last month, Mississippi nominated a black man as a major party’s candidate for governor. We have made tremendous progress battling racism and creating a society that more fully lives up to our founding ideals. How did we get here to this better place? One man who lived his life and then gave his life so that we might enjoy this better life was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. To honor his memory in stone on America’s sacred ground, the National Mall, is both fitting and proper.
Brother Rogers works at the Stennis Center for Public Service and is a guest columnist for the Starkville Daily News.