Editorial: Trump diminishes M.L. King Jr.'s legacy at Mar-a-Lago event

CBC Editorial: Friday, Dec. 15, 2023; editorial #8893

The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company

Former President Donald Trump made a mockery of the life, sacrifices and achievements of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., in his misdirected statement about North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson.

"I swear I think you're better than Dr. Martin Luther King,” Trump said this week in his endorsement of Robinson, a Republican, for governor.

It is a shameful insult to the astonishing legacy of King, whose courageous life was cut short in a tragic 1968 assassination in Memphis, Tenn.

In his historic Aug. 28, 1963 speech, King declared: “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Trump’s statement proved just how unfulfilled King’s dream remains. There’s a difference between genuine sincerity and opportunistic theatrics. Donald Trump and Mark Robinson emulate the latter.

There is little reflective of King in Robinson, other than some shared outward appearance.

King spoke of love and respect for all people.

Robinson spews hate and divisiveness.

King was a disciple of nonviolence and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Robinson is a bully who promotes weapons of violence and death.

King dreamed of better lives for ALL.

Robinson selfish rhetoric merely seeks to uplift himself and punish those who might see otherwise.

A month before the nation will celebrate the life and legacy of one of our nation’s greatest heroes, Donald Trump mocked it.

Lest we forget, watch King’s “I have a dream” speech here or listen to and read it here.

Below are excerpts of the immortal words of love, determination, freedom and nonviolence from a real hero, uttered 60 years ago, that deserve note and emulation:

"When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men — yes, Black men as well as white men — would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. …

"Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children. …

"In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. …

"Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal. …

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. … I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. …

"With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. …

"When we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.”

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