{"id":9811,"date":"2021-01-18T14:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-18T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiofree.org\/?p=151334"},"modified":"2021-01-18T14:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-01-18T14:00:00","slug":"martin-luther-king-jr-s-message-for-us-in-this-moment-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/01\/18\/martin-luther-king-jr-s-message-for-us-in-this-moment-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin Luther King Jr.\u2019s Message for Us in this Moment"},"content":{"rendered":"
As we celebrate the thirty-sixth Martin Luther King Jr. Day<\/a> on January 18, it\u2019s hard not to wonder how the civil-rights leader would respond to these extraordinary times\u2014the police killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and others; the still-raging COVID-19 pandemic; and now the Capitol insurrection, with the potential of further violence.<\/p>\n King was often called on to comment on police brutality. He urged Americans to see the issue as part of a much larger problem. In eulogizing<\/a> Jimmie Lee Jackson, whose murder by an Alabama state trooper triggered the events leading to the passage of the Voting Rights of Act of 1965, King made the case for our collective responsibility in addressing police brutality.<\/p>\n The United States is not what it could be. But we have the power in this moment to reimagine and work toward a country that\u2019s more consistent with our ideals than our historical practice. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n \u201cA state trooper,\u201d he acknowledged, \u201cpointed the gun, but he did not act alone.\u201d Instead, King argued, Jackson \u201cwas murdered by the brutality of every sheriff who practices lawlessness in the name of law. He was murdered by the irresponsibility of every politician, from governors on down, who has fed his constituents the stale bread of hatred and the spoiled meat of racism. He was murdered by the timidity of a federal government that can spend millions of dollars a day to keep troops in South Vietnam and cannot protect the rights of its own citizens seeking the right to vote.\u201d<\/p>\n Recognizing this collective responsibility, King put the focus on addressing deeper societal issues. He knew racial prejudice and economic inequality facilitated the spread of racism sanctioned by discriminatory laws and enforced by police. Police reform is absolutely necessary, but we must also acknowledge, as King did, that it must accompany a comprehensive effort to address housing, education, and overall economic inequality in the United States. <\/p>\n\n