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A Better America Is King's Legacy

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 21, 2008

The recent dust-up between presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama over the role of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in passing the 1964 Civil Rights Act was unfortunate but timely, occurring as it did a few weeks before the nation honors the civil rights leader on this national holiday.

While King's role in the legislative process is debatable, his legacy to the United States is not.

King aroused the conscience of the nation and forced it to live up to its democratic principles. He helped bring about dramatic social change with a minimal loss of life. When we consider that 620,000 Americans lost their lives in the Civil War a century earlier, King's adherence to nonviolence stands out even more.

A majority of Americans were not yet born when King was killed, so many fail to appreciate how their lives have been influenced by him. Children off from school today never had to attend segregated schools, sit in the back of a bus or drink from "whites only" or "colored only" drinking fountains. Neither have they ever been legally barred from a hotel or restaurant because of their race. The America they know is more enlightened and more just, thanks in no small part to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The nation still faces problems, but it remains the envy of the world in making diversity work. That is part of King's legacy, and why he is honored today.

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