On Monday, communities across the country hosted marches, panels and service projects to mark the 40th anniversary Federal observation of Martin Luther King Jr. Daythe political climate for some is more fraught with tension than celebratory as they reflect on the legacy of the slain black American civil rights icon.
In the year since Donald Trump’s second inauguration on King’s Day, the Republican president has adopted a scorched-earth stance against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. It mostly targeted black-led cities of federal law enforcement operations, among other policies criticized by many of King’s admirers.
One year ago, Trump’s executive orders, “End Unlawful Discrimination and Restore Merit-Based Opportunity” and “End Radical and Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferences,” accelerated the rollback of civil rights and racial justice initiatives at federal agencies, corporations, and universities. The National Park Service announced last month Free entry will no longer be offered to the parks on King Day and Juneteenth, but instead on Flag Day and Trump’s birthday.
The Trump administration is trying to rewrite history, R. Bernard, founder, pastor and CEO of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, told an audience gathered at King’s Church in Atlanta on Sunday.
“We live in a moment when America tends to forget the painful truth of its black history,” Bernard said, speaking at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. “Slavery has been renamed labor, segregation has been reduced to a mere footnote, and racist terrorism has been interpreted as exaggeration.” “This is an irresponsible historical distortion.”
Urgent calls to unite against injustice punctuated an energetic gospel at Ebenezer, where King preached. The feeling that civil and human rights are at stake infused the comments of many speakers there Monday.
U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia and Ebenezer’s senior pastor, recalled a story about King fighting for the Voting Rights Act after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. He urged the crowd to keep up the pressure against Trump’s policies, sweeping immigration enforcement and what he described as the “Trump-Vance regime’s” attempts to sow division.
“They are trying to use despair as a weapon and convince us that we are at war with each other,” Warnock said.
the A fatal shooting this month The presence of an unarmed Minneapolis woman in her car by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents sent there to target the city’s Somali immigrant population, as well as Trump’s recent denunciation of civil rights as discrimination against whites, have only intensified fears of a rollback of the social progress that King and so many others championed.
However, concerns have not dampened many of the King’s holiday events scheduled this year. Some conservative admirers of King say the holiday should serve as a reminder of the civil rights icon’s plea that all people be judged by their character, not the color of their skin. However, some black advocacy groups pledged a day of resistance and marches across the country.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Trump said he felt that the civil rights movement and the reforms it helped introduce were harmful to white people, who were “treated very poorly.” Politicians and advocates say Trump’s comments are harmful because they dismiss the hard work of King and other people who helped not only Black Americans but other groups, including women and the LGBTQ+ community.
“I think the civil rights movement was one of the things that made our country so unique, that we weren’t always perfect, but we always strive to be this more perfect union, and that’s what I think the civil rights movement represents,” Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Maryland’s first black governor and the nation’s third elected black governor, said this week. Interview with the Associated Press.
The Trump administration’s priorities make clear it is actively trying to erase the movement, said Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, one of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights coalitions.
“From access to health care and affordable housing to good-paying jobs and union representation, the things Dr. King provided as part of his clarion call for a beloved community remain at stake, even more so because (the administration) has dismantled the terms of government itself and the norms of our culture,” Wiley said.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment.
In Washington, hundreds of people on Monday marched along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, braving the cold weather to honor the civil rights leader. The parade began decades ago as part of efforts to establish a national holiday in honor of the king.
Sam Ford, retired broadcaster and panelist for The Martin Luther King Jr. Daily Show, helped bring the show back in 2012.
“We have to continue to do this not just because of Dr. King, but because of what he stands for,” Ford said. “The struggle continues.”
Show co-showrunner Harold Hunter echoed this sentiment.
“It’s not just a white thing or a black thing. It’s a people thing,” he said.
The Heritage Foundation encouraged conservatives to focus the holiday solely on King. Brenda Havera, a research fellow at the foundation, urged people to visit Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta or reread his “I Have a Dream” speech that he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington nearly 63 years ago.
Using the holiday as a platform to rally and talk about “anti-racism” and “critical race theory” actually rejects King’s ambition for the country, Havera said.
“I think the effort needs to be made in the spirit of what Martin Luther King Jr. actually believed in and what he advocated,” Havera said. “And his vision was a color-blind society, right.” “He very famously said in his speech, Judge not by the color of your skin, but by the content of your character.”
The NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil rights organization that had countless MLK Day events planned for Monday, emphasized that growing concerns among communities of color and in immigrant communities mean King Day celebrations must take on a different tone. People will have to put their safety first, even if their government doesn’t, said Wisdom Cole, senior director of national defense for the NAACP.
“As people use their constitutional right to protest, speak out and stand up for what they believe in, we face acts of violence. We face increasing violence from the police and the state from the government,” Cole said.
The Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of organizations affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement, had planned its events under the slogan “Day of Action to Restore Martin Luther King.” Organizers planned demonstrations in Atlanta. chicago; and Oakland, California, among other cities, over the weekend and Monday.
“This year, it is more important than ever to reclaim Martin Luther King’s radical legacy, and allow his wisdom and powerful commitment to freedom to move us into the necessary action of caring for each other, fighting, and freeing ourselves from this fascist system,” Devonte Jackson, the coalition’s national organizing director, said in a statement.
For the first time in its 60-year history, Indiana University in Indianapolis has canceled its annual Martin Luther King Dinner. Over the years, the event has attracted notable guest speakers, including Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman elected to Congress, and activist Angela Davis.
The reason was “budget constraints,” the school’s Black Student Union posted on social media. However, the group expressed concern that this was “linked to broader political pressures.” A few students responded by organizing smaller community dinners or “potlucks” to fill the void, WTHR-TV in Indianapolis reported.
Meanwhile, St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Westbrook, Maine, canceled its MLK Day service due to “unforeseen circumstances,” according to the parish website. But a member of the church’s “Social Justice and Peace Committee” told NewsCenterMaine.com that the pastor was concerned about people’s safety amid rumors of ICE agents in the area.
Overall, there have been few reports of King Day events being significantly scaled back or canceled altogether.
In Memphis, Tennessee, the National Civil Rights Museum was holding its annual King’s Day celebration as usual. The museum is located on the site of the former Lorraine Hotel, where King was shot on April 4, 1968. The museum offers free admission on the holiday, an annual tradition.
“This historic year is not only about looking back at what Dr. King stood for, but also recognizing the people who continue to make his ideals a reality today,” said museum president Russell Wigginton.
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Tang reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Matt Brown in Washington; Adrian Sanz in Memphis, Tennessee; Brian Witt in Annapolis, Maryland, and Charlotte Cramon in Atlanta contributed to this report.