Civil rights leaders demand reforms at Sonya Massey rally in Chicago
Civil rights leaders Reverend Al Sharpton and Ben Crump called for legal reforms at a rally for Sonya Massey.
Today, Martin Luther King III is particularly concerned about how people deal with his father’s legacy.
When former President Donald Trump called North Carolina’s potential first black governor “Martin Luther King (Jr.) on steroids,” the civil rights icon’s son and namesake was quick to refute the claim.
“Politicians in general often use my father as a catchall for what they want to accomplish,” Martin Luther King III said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY last week. Just Thursday, Trump boasted about the size of the crowd at his Jan. 6, 2021, rally, claiming it was larger than the one at Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have A Dream” speech.
King teamed up with a liberal advocacy group in June to launch a seven-figure advertising campaign against North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, who has made a name for himself with numerous controversial statements against abortion, homosexuality and the civil rights movement. North Carolina is expected to have the toughest gubernatorial race of the year and will also play a role in deciding the next president.
King is the eldest son of MLK’s four children and a longtime human rights activist in his own right, along with his wife, Arndrea Waters King. She is president of the Drum Major Institute, a nonprofit progressive group originally founded during the civil rights movement.
This month marks 61 years since Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in Washington, D.C. The Kings spoke to USA TODAY about the significance of this year’s crucial election between Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. They also shared their thoughts on how they view civil rights in America today, including in light of the recent death of Sonya Massey, a 36-year-old black woman who was shot and killed by an Illinois sheriff’s deputy.
“Ultimately,” said Martin Luther King III, “the goal is to create a better society and a better humanity, because we are still a long way from where we should be as a humanity. And that is dangerous and terrible.”
Here is the conversation, shortened and edited for clarity.
On Harris vs. Trump
Q: What challenges do you think Vice President Harris will face in this election as the first woman and first woman of color to run for president?
Water King: Literally less than 24 hours after the announcement, we saw attacks on – of course in politics there are going to be attacks on records. And so that’s to be expected. It’s not to be expected that the very first thing that’s said is, “This is a DEI candidate.”
It’s unfortunate because I think we’ve heard quite a bit about unity in the last few weeks, but you can’t talk about unity and at the same time continue to foment division. And that’s exactly what we’re seeing right now.
Q: Do you think Trump has found favor among black male voters?
Martin Luther King III: One would have to say that historically he has received more black votes than previous Republican candidates. But whether this share is actually increasing significantly is not entirely accurate.
And I also believe that there will be a groundswell of support for the Vice President now. And I say that because you look at what happened in terms of the conversations – I think last Monday there was the first major conference call with African-American women where over 50,000 women, black women, were on the phone. Then there was a conference call with black men. These are all events that unite the nation and the community.
There is a tension and energy that we have never seen in the political process. While it is great to say all this, that does not mean it will be easy. It will be a very tough campaign, with the Vice President still an underdog.
North Carolina and Georgia in focus in 2024
Q: How did you react when Trump compared Robinson to your father?
Martin Luther King III: From my perspective, it’s important that if my father ever serves as a role model, I have to say, “No, … that’s not what my father stood for.” And I just want people to know that’s not true, because so many people listen to the former president for whatever reasons.
Q: Georgia is another state that will be closely watched this year and that you know a lot about. What do you think about its new role as a swing state?
Water King: Georgia is a purple state through and through. And that didn’t happen by accident.
There are incredible activists on the ground who – and I’m proud to say the majority of them are black women – have been at the forefront here in Georgia of turning this state from pure red to pure purple. And because of that tremendous groundwork that’s been done for many, many years, I’m sure Georgia will definitely play a role in this upcoming election. And one of the things we’re seeing here in Georgia is a level of enthusiasm and energy that, frankly, we haven’t seen in many, many years.
The state of America today
Q: What do you think about the country at the moment?
Water King: We are terrifyingly divided. I think it’s pretty clear that no matter what comes out of this upcoming election, half the country is going to be extraordinarily and passionately upset. Disappointment isn’t even the right word. We are truly divided in a way that I’ve never seen to this degree in my entire life.
We are truly in a battle for the soul of our nation, and I think it is more important now than ever that we find our way to the beloved community that Martin Luther King Jr. and Coretta Scott King spoke and worked so hard for.
Martin Luther King III: Where we are today is a function of what we have done as a society. My father always said that darkness cannot eradicate darkness, only light can. Violence will never eradicate violence, only non-violence and love can do that. And in that sense, we must consciously promote something other than division, because that is not sustainable.
Q: In light of the recent murder of Sonya Massey and so many other Black Americans, what more needs to be done to reach this beloved community?
Martin Luther King III: I can’t imagine what was going through that officer’s mind when he acted so arbitrarily. We see this happening in communities of color, more often and at a higher rate than anywhere else. And we need to start over from the beginning to develop a different mindset.
In the past, there were hardly any consequences. Fortunately, there were good lawyers and good people who came forward and said, “Hey, this is not right, we will not accept this.” And then eventually there is a charge. This incident was so wrong that the police officer was immediately arrested and put in jail. That rarely happens, or rarely happened in the past. Now there is a different climate, and people are holding law enforcement and everyone accountable.
Water King: There has been a lot of discussion about policing in this country following the George Floyd case. One of the things that we still haven’t been able to get passed because of the division in Congress is the George Floyd Police Act. This is something that the president has been pushing.
This is an extraordinarily painful and horrific situation, but it exposes so many things: the conversations we need to have in this country, but also the things that need to be done in this country.
Martin Luther King III: My father’s book, his last book, which he wrote in 1967 before he was killed in 1968, was, “Where do we go from here: chaos or community?” And that’s where we are now. We as a society have to choose – we see and experience chaos. But humanity has to get to the point where we want to build community. And we have to define how we want to build community so that every child has a chance, the best health care, the best education, the best chance at a decent job, a decent home and justice.
And I think we need to focus on what and how we create what Mom and Dad would have called the beloved community, the community that serves all of us at the highest level.
