Our country now celebrates the life and enduring legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with parades, speeches and recollections from his civil rights peers. However, we should not forget that the path to this national recognition was not an easy one. King’s struggle to secure equality in life may have been overshadowed by his legacy in death.
Even though John Conyers (D-MI) introduced the first bill to commemorate King’s life and legacy in 1979, the rumors that circulated during his lifetime reappeared with a vengeance. Generally speaking, history has been most kind to Martin Luther King, Jr. School children throughout the country know his influence and leadership in the boycott of the privately-owned bus company in Montgomery, AL in 1955 and his “I have a Dream Speech” is all but required reading and recitation. Interestingly, history seems to infer that the 1963 speech given at the feet of the Lincoln Memorial was the highlight of his career. History seems to have all but forgotten King’s fervent opposition to American involvement in Vietnam. Even though President Lyndon Johnson supported and signed civil rights legislation, King was unrelenting in his belief that the US would be better served by focusing on her own underdeveloped people (minority residents of depleted inner cities throughout the country).
It is true that King’s popularity probably peaked in 1963 and by the time of his death in 1968 he was probably considered a pariah. It’s safe to believe most Americans thought he was a communist sympathizer and was a rabble-rouser and a trouble maker. That opinion was courtesy of then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover.
So by the time Conyers authored a bill to celebrate King the old rumors were used to bring down the walls of decency surrounding King. Political opponents of civil rights legislation in the 1960s reminded a new generation of King’s supposed association with communists. Senator Jesse Helms was perhaps the loudest opponent to a holiday honoring King. He threatened a procedural filibuster, sought access to sealed FBI files and even argued that another national holiday would result in billions of dollars in lost productivity.
What is surprising is that the bill was ultimately signed by President Ronald Reagan in Nov. 2, 1983. Reagan’s neo-conservative policies negatively affected the black community. But his reluctant support of a King Holiday seemed to indicate his willingness to “play politics” with the black community in advance of his reelection efforts in 1984.
Still, national recognition of the holiday in 1986 did not ensure compliance throughout the country. Some states refused to acknowledge King’s importance to this country’s history, some states referred to the holiday on the third Monday in January as “Human Rights Day” or “Civil Rights Day.” In fact, it was 1999 before all states recognized the King Holiday.
So, every January we celebrate the life and legacy of a man who gave everything he had to force this country to “live up to its creed” that “all men are created equal.” While history justifiably records King’s influence before 1963, it now seems the responsibility of the black community to also keep King’s objection to the Vietnam War in the national consciousness as well. In simplistic terms you have to crack some eggs to make an omelet; the eggs in this country (racism) must also be cracked if we’re to ever see an American omelet that is inclusive of all races, genders, and sexual orientations. King was a skilled omelet maker. History needs to remember him as such.
Has anyone seen the President’s taxes yet?
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