Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King, Jr. Yesterday we celebrated the life and, unfortunately, the violent death of Martin Luther King, Jr. What we seem to have forgotten is the vision he had of a better America . Dr. King’s larger vision was an America free from the scourges of racism, violence and poverty. He realized that the means to this end were just as important as the ends. They were the opposites – nonviolence, solidarity, and an appeal to all Americans to believe in the political ideals and moral values on which this country was founded. Like another great American at a time of national crisis, Dr King appealed to “the better angels of our nature.” And in some ways, this has happened. We are a more tolerant society than we were in 1968. But there has been an ongoing political backlash, fueled by a rhetoric of fear, anger and hate. Reverend King would be appalled that a national political leader would overlay the crosshairs of a...