The Importance of MLK Day!

Today, I am forced to reckon with an irony: This year, the federal holiday celebrating Dr. King falls on Inauguration Day, our quadrennial national ritual of swearing in presidents, in this case Donald John Trump.

Often King paraphrased verse 5:24 from the Book of Amos, warning that Black Americans would not be satisfied “until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” In his famous “I Have a Dream” speech, King invoked these words to urge civil rights soldiers of all races to continue their “creative” nonviolent protest, until “the Negro” had full citizenship and was no longer subjected to “the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.”

Candidate Trump relentlessly attacked “enemies from within,” naming journalists, the “deep state” and generally anyone that opposed him as people who were bad for America and targets for his revenge. I hope this is just bluster, as some of Trump’s supporters claim.

But the evidence suggests otherwise. King lived the creed of nonviolent resistance and an intentional cross-racial coalition in the cause of justice. In contrast, Trump consolidated power by dividing people, threatening violence, stoking fear and sometimes building a MAGA community through outright cruelty. It worked. Trump maintained his overwhelmingly white base and expanded his share of Latino votes.

What do we do now? King decried the “apathy among Negroes” who had the power to vote and did not exercise it. Trump won but did not exceed 50 percent of the popular vote and the margins for control of the House and Senate were close. My guess is that MLK would advise Democrats to try reaching the roughly 90 million people who did not vote with more creative organizing and fielding electrifying candidates that speak plainly to ordinary Americans’ needs. Democrats must do more for the working- and middle-class Black Americans- ensuring better academic achievement for black children, reparations, school loan relief, incentive to buy a home and maintaining a high quality of life. 

Trump will not be president forever. But the teachings of Christ and all world religions about universal humanity are eternal. And so, on this MLK Day, I hope all Americans will pause to consider Dr. King’s truths. And act on them.

President Coleman