Not many people know that the Memphis hotel where Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in 1968 is now the home of the National Civil Rights Museum. In describing King’s legacy, the museum highlights his universal and unifying appeal:
“A leader of all people, Dr. King never chose fear, but always chose courage and determination when fighting for civil rights in the face of oppression, ignorance and violence. He refused to allow prison, violence or the threat of death sway his end mission. Instead, he stood beside his goal of achieving rights for all through nonviolent protests. Dr. King maintained a vision for a more diverse America where all people enjoyed the benefits of equality.”
Where Dr. King was most unifying was in his “I Have a Dream” speech at the Washington Mall in August 1963.
By rooting his dream in America’s founding, Dr. King made his dream an American dream.
That American dream was, and still is, based on the striving for ideals.
The nation’s founders, Dr. King said, signed a “promissory note” through the founding documents of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution, promising the ideals of fundamental rights for all people.
King did not call for changing those documents or those promises. Instead, he called on America to live up to them.
His civil rights movement sought to cash the “promissory note” for the Black community so they can enjoy the rights and opportunities that were rightfully theirs.
In other words, instead of demeaning America as irredeemably and hopelessly racist, he went in the other direction: We’re better than that, he told us.
Indeed we are.
Compared to the America of 1963 when King made his “dream” speech, we’ve made significant progress in delivering civil rights. The fact that we still have a long way to go is what progress is all about: it never ends. Creating a more perfect union is difficult. It requires both patience and a restlessness for progress.
Now we’re going through a dip. I can’t remember a time when our country was so divided, when our self-esteem was so low. Everything has become politicized– even the American Dream.
Given the state we’re in, King’s legacy has never been more essential. I can’t think of a better way to honor his legacy than to remember how he tried to bring our country together through the shared ideals expressed at our founding.
Ideals don’t change. It is us who much change and never stop aspiring to meet them.
As we can see in his museum in Memphis, Dr. King understood that lowering our collective self-esteem was a lousy recipe for progress. He understood that progress shines most brightly on the high road of ideals, and so does the American Dream.
Happy MLK Day.
