Over half a century ago, an American Baptist minister from Georgia became one of the most important figures in U.S. history. People from across the country came together to honor the civil rights leader and his legacy.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. led the civil rights movement to successfully call for the end of racial segregation. The civil rights leader marched in the street and spoke at podiums across the country.
His most famous speech, “I Have a Dream,” helped pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Civil rights activist and President of the Woodson Center, Bob Woodson, said King’s greatest achievement was keeping the movement pointing toward fulfilling the American dream.
“He was critical of our past, but he was hopeful that America could live up to its promise, and so he always supported, was a patriot, he supported the nation. And he was directing us to live by the content of our character, he was not asking for special privileges. He was not demanding reparations. He was talking about opening the doors of opportunity.”
One of the hallmarks of King’s teachings was to bring about change through peaceful protest rather than violence.
Woodson said he thinks there’s been a departure from what the late civil rights leader stood for.
“I think the civil rights leadership has abandoned the moral high ground that was established by King. It was Dr. King who spoke out against violence. He spoke against the violence of the Ku Klux Klan, but he also spoke out vigorously against retaliatory violence.”
Last year, the country was subject to months of violence and chaos, often supported by Black Lives Matter activists and Antifa.
The riots resulted in over $1 billion in damages. That’s on top of dealing with health and economic crises.
But Woodson says King’s optimism is what brought the country to a better place.
“Even in the greatest times, the sickest part of the body often attracts the largest number of antibodies, and in every crisis, the opposite of it is opportunity. And I think that Dr. King was a very hopeful man, but he taught us redemptive suffering, that sometimes we have to go through suffering before we know what healing is all about, but he was a healing agent and I think that Dr. King always was leading us to the light.”
Woodson added that people around the world risk their lives to get to the United States not because it’s a failure, but because of America’s rich legacy as the shining city on a hill.
