Last week, Americans commemorated Martin Luther King Day – a day created in 1983 to remember the man and the movement he led for justice and equality. The problem is that since MLK Day was created, by Congressional legislation and signed into law by then-president Ronald Reagan, there has been a steady erosion of the meaning of the day.
The history of the civil rights struggle has been forgotten, and now the administration of President Donald Trump appears bent on erasing the history of racial injustice that led to Dr King and the civil rights movement he led.
It, therefore, should not have been surprising that Mr Trump had to be goaded by civil rights leaders into issuing a statement acknowledging the day last week. Nor was it surprising that the statement was only begrudgingly released when the day was almost over, said little about Dr King, and only appeared on the White House website, without the usual social media amplification.
This is because Mr Trump and the movement he leads has sought to whitewash American history, issuing executive orders that tell schools and federal programmes to remove mention of the troubling aspects of the country’s past and focus instead on the glorious battles Americans have won, the heroic leaders who fought them and the values they represented. I disagree with this approach, which is akin to behaving like ostriches and burying our heads in the sand to ignore the troubling aspects of the country’s past and present.
There are consequences to erasing the history of state violence used to deny justice and forgetting the lessons of the non-violent resistance to that violence and injustice. Right now, some of this can be seen playing out on the streets of Minneapolis, Minnesota, where about 3,000 armed federal immigration enforcers have invaded the city and have been arresting people based on their appearance.
Thousands have been detained – including many who are US citizens or legal residents – and two individuals who were serving as monitors have been shot dead. The city has become inflamed and is on the precipice of violence.
Following the example of Dr King who, at one of the most turbulent times in the civil rights struggle, issued a call for clergy to come to Selma, Alabama to protect African Americans marching for justice, Minneapolis activists called for faith leaders to converge on the city to provide a protective presence for the immigrant communities. Thousands have arrived in the city – and are already making a difference. This is how I believe Dr King should be honoured.
From my early days, when I was honoured to serve as an appointed member of Washington DC’s Martin Luther King Holiday Commission, my mission was to ensure that the day reminds future generations of the struggles led by Dr King against the injustices that have defined America’s history as a nation.
That movement secured voting rights for disenfranchised African Americans who, 100 years after the official end of slavery in the US, were still the victims of severe discrimination. This same civil rights movement also led to the abolition of segregation, a system of law and practice that had divided America into two distinct worlds, one black and one white.
Generations of Americans do not realise that just 60 years ago, in several parts of our country, African Americans could not buy property, do business, reside or attend school in “white only” neighbourhoods. The struggle, led by Dr King, to break down these barriers to racial separation in housing, employment, education and public accommodations was a difficult one.
Though non-violent, it was met with violence. Thousands of protesters were arrested or beaten. Many lost their lives. In the end, it was this movement that won and forever changed the face of America. Still, the work was not done. While legal segregation ended, the legacy of racial division continued to haunt America.
For example, as late as 1964, property deeds in my neighbourhood in north-western Washington included a “covenant” that prohibited the sale of that property to African Americans. Black families living in this “white only” section were ordered to be evicted and their properties were taken and razed to make way for the construction of all-white schools. Even after those covenants were declared null and void, as a result of legislation passed in response to the civil rights movement, Washington – America’s capital city – remained extraordinarily divided.
Accompanying that physical division were significant differences in income, infrastructure, services and opportunities – which continue to plague this city.
This was not only the story of Washington. It was replicated across the US and was much worse in the so-called Deep South where African Americans lived under an apartheid-like system of imposed racial segregation. There were restaurants where they couldn’t eat and hotels where they couldn’t stay. Restrooms and water fountains were designated “white only” or “coloured”. Even public transport was segregated between “white” and “coloured” seating.
This was the system, in both the north and south, that was challenged and partially defeated by the movement Dr King helped to lead. Americans should, therefore, not only honour the heroic effort of these civil rights champions but also remember the reality they were fighting to dismantle and change – and the lasting impact this system continues to have today.
The danger, of course, is that this history is either not known or its importance has been dismissed or forgotten. The way to honour Dr King and his cohorts should be to remember the world into which they came, the injustices against which they fought and the lessons they taught, and to apply them to the challenges Americans face today – defending immigrants, defending voting rights and challenging indiscriminate violence by local and federal law enforcement.
In other words, doing what Dr King would be doing. And the place where that is happening right now is Minnesota.
