Martin Luther King no longer a “drum major for justice”
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Martin Luther King has long been idolized, not because he was assassinated, but because he was black and assassinated in a time in America when race trumped all other things. Even after his death the truth goes marching on.
So when Martin Luther King’s “monument” was built there was some controversy over whether he was a drum major, a sergeant major, or a major personality in the race wars of the 50’s and 60’s.
A truncated quote etched onto the Martin Luther King Jr. memorial in DC that critics say makes King sound like an “arrogant twit” (Maya Angelou’s words) will be fixed, the Washington Post reports. Interior chief Ken Salazar tells the Post‘s Rachel Manteuffel (who raised the issue five months ago in a column) that he has given the National Park Service 30 days to consult with all involved and find an alternative. The quote on the memorial says: “I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness.”
What King actually said was: “Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter.” Manteuffel parses the difference: “To King, being a self-aggrandizing drum major was not a good thing; if you wanted to call him that, he said, at least say it was in the service of good causes.”
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I, for one, believe that King symbolized justice. Being a young white man while he was marching through Alabama I have heard most, if not all, of the negative stories about him as well as those about what he stood for and spoke against. When one sorts through them all one thing stands out. He stood up and spoke out for justice. He was both hated and loved by many, but he was just a man who stood for things greater than himself. Without realizing it his haters made him and his cause even bigger when they assassinated him.
Thank goodness this is being set right!