Our view: King's legacy cannot be diminished

[goldcanyonaz]

Regardless of the circumstances or the parties involved, it's a good thing when people have occasion to talk about the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

This weekend has been rightfully set aside to honor the achievements of the great civil rights leader, who was born in Atlanta and who died much too young, when he was shot while standing on a motel balcony in Memphis. But his courage and inspiring words should be a subject of discussion in classrooms and other public forums throughout the year.

Those following the Democratic presidential race were treated to such a dialogue a week ago between Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. They are considered the leading contenders for their party's nomination and emotions were at a fever pitch in the wake of the New Hampshire primary, when the dust-up occurred.

Clinton, attempting the make the point that experience counts in a candidate, had noted that as influential as King had been in bringing attention to the second-class status still accorded African-Americans, especially in the South, in the early 1960s, it took a veteran Washington insider, President Lyndon B. Johnson, to win passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Obama's camp attempted to spin the senator's remarks as a slight of Dr. King, no doubt hoping to gain some political advantage from the flap. But the controversy proved short-lived and both candidates agreed no slight to King was intended and that the late president does indeed deserve credit for pushing civil-rights reform through a then-reluctant Congress.

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Four decades after his death, Dr. King's great legacy remains undiminished.

http://www.eagletribune.com/puopinion/local_story_020094142?keyword=topstory+page=0

[goldcanyonaz]

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