Today marks the 59th anniversary of the seminal March on Washington – “one of the largest political rallies for human rights in United States history,” and which is “credited with helping to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964” – at which Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Of course, as famous, great and inspiring as Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech was, and as important as the March on Washington was, Dr. King did much, much more than that in his all-too-short life. Just a few highlights include:
- Dr. King “advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through nonviolence and civil disobedience. Inspired by his Christian beliefs and the nonviolent activism of Mahatma Gandhi, he led targeted, nonviolent resistance against Jim Crow laws and other forms of discrimination.“
- Dr. King “participated in and led marches for the right to vote, desegregation, labor rights, and other civil rights. He oversaw the 1955 Montgomery bus boycott and later became the first president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).”
- Dr. King “spoke strongly against the U.S.’s role in the [Vietnam] war, arguing that the U.S. was in Vietnam ‘to occupy it as an American colony’ and calling the U.S. government ‘the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.’ He connected the war with economic injustice, arguing that the country needed serious moral change.”
- “He guarded his language in public to avoid being linked to communism by his enemies, but in private he sometimes spoke of his support for social democracy and democratic socialism.”
- “In 1968, King and the SCLC organized the ‘Poor People’s Campaign‘ to address issues of economic justice. King traveled the country to assemble ‘a multiracial army of the poor’ that would march on Washington to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience at the Capitol until Congress created an ‘economic bill of rights’ for poor Americans.”
And Dr. King did much, much more than that. But you’d never know that if you just listened to Republicans, who are fond of quoting just one of Dr. King’s quotes (and even then, out of context), from the March on Washington: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Of course, quoting only that line, or segments of it, gives Republicans the opportunity to seem to be on this great American’s side, even while they would have opposed nearly everything Dr. King stood for, and even as the Republican Party today works relentlessly AGAINST everything Dr. King fought for – economic and social justice, voting rights, civil rights, the end of systemic racism and all forms of discrimination, poverty and oppression. All of which today’s Trumpist GOP is on the opposite of, sad to say…
Which is why it’s good to see a bunch of people calling out Glenn Youngkin for tweeting that Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech “inspired our country to cast aside prejudice and become a more perfect union for all Americans.” See below for some quotes and screenshots, including:
- Dr. King’s youngest child, Bernice King, tweeted: “Governor Youngkin, our nation has yet to comprehensively, strategically, legislatively & systemically cast aside prejudice, racism & bigotry. I call you beyond acknowledging my father to embracing the work of ensuring policies, including in education, that reflect his teachings.”
- VA Senate President pro Tempore, Sen. Louise Lucas, tweeted: “If this speech happened today you would be on Fox News condemning it and asking parents to call your snitch line if it was discussed in schools.”
- Gov. Ralph Northam’s Secretary of Education, Atif Qarni, tweeted: “If Dr. King was around today @GovernorVA, you would label him as a liberal-left progressive. Your remarks are disingenuous.”
- Del. Sally Hudon tweeted: “The Governor of Virginia issued a statement on the 59th anniversary of the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech in DC but not the 5th anniversary of the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville. Achieving Dr. King’s dream starts with denouncing white supremacy in our own time.”
- Cindy/VAPLAN tweeted: “If you’re scared of CRT, and the word “equity,” and books by Toni Morrison, and even just renaming streets, then you do not have the credibility to quote MLK Jr.—not today, not any day. #ActionsSpeakLouder“
And yes, Youngkin richly deserves this, because his remarks are completely hollow and disingenuous, given that his actions/inactions, his administration’s actions/inactions, and the Trumpist GOP’s actions/inactions, are all diametrically opposed to everything Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. believed in, fought for, and ultimately was murdered for…
Sign up for the Blue Virginia weekly newsletter
