As communities across the country on Monday hosted parades, panels and service projects for the 40th , the political climate for some is more fraught with tensions than festive with reflection on the slain Black American civil rights icon’s legacy.
In the year since Donald Trump’s second inauguration fell on King Day, the Republican president has adopted a scorched earth stance against diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives and for federal law enforcement operations, among other policies that many King admirers have criticized.
One year ago, Trump’s executive orders 鈥淓nding Illegal Discrimination And Restoring Merit-Based Opportunity鈥� and 鈥淓nding Radical And Wasteful Government DEI Programs and Preferencing鈥� accelerated a rollback of civil rights and racial justice initiatives in federal agencies, corporations and universities. Last month, the National Park Service announced to parks on King Day and Juneteenth, but instead on Flag Day and Trump’s birthday.
A.R. Bernard, founder, pastor and CEO of the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, told an audience gathered at King’s home church in Atlanta Sunday that the Trump administration is attempting to rewrite history.
鈥淲e are living in a moment where America is being tempted to forget the painful truth of its Black history. Slavery being renamed as labor, segregation reduced to a footnote, racial terror explained away as exaggeration,鈥� Bernard said, speaking at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. 鈥淭his is irresponsible, historical revisionism.鈥�
Urgent calls to unite against injustice were interspersed with energetic gospel at Ebenezer, where King preached. A sense that civil and human rights are at stake infused the comments by many speakers there Monday.
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Georgia Democrat and Ebenezer鈥檚 senior pastor, invoked a story about King fighting for the Voting Rights Act after Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. He urged the crowd to keep pushing against Trump鈥檚 policies, sweeping immigration enforcement and what he described as attempts from the 鈥淭rump-Vance regime鈥� to sow division.
鈥淭hey are trying to weaponize despair and convince us that we are at war with one another,鈥� Warnock said.
The 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 recently decrying civil rights as discrimination against white people, have only intensified fears of a regression from the social progress King and many others advocated for.
Still, the concerns did not chill many King holiday events planned this year. Some conservative admirers of King say the holiday should be a reminder of the civil rights icon’s plea that all people be judged by their character and not their skin color. Some Black advocacy groups, however, vowed a day of resistance and rallies nationwide.
鈥榃e鈥檝e always strived to be a more perfect union’
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Trump said he felt the Civil Rights Movement and the reforms it helped usher in were harmful to white people, who 鈥渨ere very badly treated.鈥� Politicians and advocates say Trump’s comments are what are harmful, because they dismiss the hard work of King and others that helped not just Black Americans but other groups, including women and the LGBTQ+ community.
鈥淚 think the Civil Rights Movement was one of the things that made our country so unique, that we haven鈥檛 always been perfect, but we鈥檝e always strived to be this more perfect union, and that鈥檚 what I think the Civil Rights Movement represents,鈥� Gov. Wes Moore, Maryland鈥檚 first Black governor and only the nation鈥檚 third elected Black governor, said this week in .
Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, one of the nation鈥檚 oldest and largest civil rights coalitions, said the Trump administration’s priorities make clear it is actively trying to erase the movement.
鈥淔rom health care access and affordable housing to good paying jobs and union representation,” Wiley said, 鈥渢hings Dr. King made part of his clarion call for a beloved community are still at stake and is even more so because (the administration) has dismantled the very terms of government and the norms of our culture.鈥�
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. Trump did issue a proclamation late Monday, writing, 鈥淥n this day, I encourage all Americans to recommit themselves to Dr. King鈥檚 dream by engaging in acts of service to others, to their community, and to our Nation.鈥�
In Washington Monday, hundreds of people marched along Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, braving cold weather to honor the civil rights leader. The parade began decades ago as part of the effort to establish a national holiday in King鈥檚 honor.
Sam Ford, a retired broadcaster and member of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade Committee, helped bring the parade back in 2012.
鈥淲e got to continue to do this because not just of Dr. King, but of what he stood for,” Ford said. 鈥淭he struggle continues.鈥�
Parade participant Harold Hunter echoed that sentiment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just a white thing or Black thing. This is a people thing,鈥� he said.
The conservative Heritage Foundation think tank encouraged the holiday鈥檚 focus to stay solely on King himself. Brenda Hafera, a foundation research fellow, urged people to visit the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historical Park in Atlanta or reread his 鈥淚 have a dream鈥� speech delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington nearly 63 years ago.
Using the holiday as a platform to rally and speak about 鈥渁nti-racism鈥� and 鈥渃ritical race theory鈥� actually rejects King鈥檚 ambition for the country, Hafera argued.
鈥淚 think efforts should be conducted in the spirit of what Martin Luther King actually believed and what he preached. And his vision was a colorblind society, right,鈥� Hafera said. 鈥淗e says very famously in his speech, don鈥檛 judge by the color of your skin, but the content of your character.鈥�
Groups call for holiday of reclamation, education and rallying
The NAACP, the nation’s oldest civil right organization, which had many MLK Day events planned for Monday, asserted that the heightened fears among communities of color and in immigrant communities mean King Day observances must take a different tone. People will have to put their safety first, even if their government isn’t, said Wisdom Cole, NAACP senior national director of advocacy.
鈥淎s folks are using their constitutional right to protest and to speak out and stand up for what they believe in, we are being faced with violence. We are faced with increased police and state violence inflicted by the government,鈥� Cole said.
The Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of organizations affiliated with the Black Lives Matter movement, had planned its events under the banner 鈥淩eclaim MLK Day of Action.鈥� Organizers planned demonstrations in Atlanta; Chicago; and Oakland, California, among other cities, over the weekend and Monday.
鈥淭his year it is more important than ever to reclaim MLK鈥檚 radical legacy, letting his wisdom and fierce commitment to freedom move us into the action necessary to take care of one another, fight back, and free ourselves from this fascist regime,鈥� Devonte Jackson, a national organizing director for the coalition, said in a statement.
Indiana school cancels historic MLK Day event
For the first time in its 60-year history, Indiana University in Indianapolis canceled its annual Martin Luther King dinner. Over the years, the event drew notable guest speakers including Shirley Chisholm, the first Black woman elected to Congress, and activist Angela Davis.
The reasoning was 鈥渂udget constraints,鈥� according to a social media post by the school’s Black Student Union. However, the group said it was worried this was 鈥渃onnected to broader political pressures.鈥� A few students responded by organizing smaller community dinners or 鈥渆at-ins鈥� to fill the void, WTHR-TV in Indianapolis reported.
Meanwhile, the St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Westbrook, Maine, canceled a MLK Day service due to 鈥渦nforeseen circumstances,鈥� according to the parish website. But a member of the church’s 鈥渟ocial justice and peace committee鈥� told 草莓传媒CenterMaine.com that the pastor was concerned about people’s safety amid rumors of ICE agents being in the area.
Overall, there have been few reports of King Day events being majorly scaled down or canceled altogether.
In Memphis, Tennessee, the National Civil Rights Museum was going about its annual King Day celebration as normal. The museum is located on the site of the former Lorraine Motel, where King was shot on April 4, 1968. The museum offered free admission on the holiday, an annual tradition.
鈥淭his milestone year is not only about looking back at what Dr. King stood for, but also recognizing the people who continue to make his ideals real today,鈥� museum President Russell Wigginton said.
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Tang reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writers Matt Brown in Washington; Adrian Sanz in Memphis, Tennessee; Brian Witte in Annapolis, Maryland, and Charlotte Kramon in Atlanta contributed to this report.
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