Dr. King’s legacy and ideals did not die with him 50 years ago today

Published 6:13 pm Tuesday, April 3, 2018

It was 50 years ago today that the world stood still for many.

Fifty years ago today, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was struck down by an assassin’s bullet as he stood outside his hotel room in Memphis, Tennessee, where he went to do what he had done in other areas of the country — campaign against injustice. In this particular case, to support a sanitation workers’ strike for better pay and working conditions.

As history remembers, his death was followed by riots across the country; activities that went contrary to Dr. King’s gospel of non-violent protest. But as we think about Dr. King’s death, those riots, although they will surely be included in any program recounting his assassination, should be the furthest thing from our minds.

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Instead, we should focus on what Dr. King’s life meant to this country and the millions of people who looked upon him as a hero and a role model.

The famous quote attributed to British statesman Edmund Burke that “the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing” is a fitting commentary on Dr. King and his work. He was a dedicated man who worked to overcome the evil of the Jim Crow laws and the roadblocks in the south that kept black residents from exercising their rights, not just to vote, but to participate in other activities in their communities in an equal basis.

His “I Have a Dream” speech during the march on Washington in 1963 gave his vision for the country’s future when he said, “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,’” still stands as a statement for making this country a better place for all to live.

In many aspects, we have still not reached the goals Dr. King set out in his speech. But others have picked up the mantle that he left when he died in Memphis and are still carrying out his work and pursuing his dream.

The bullet fired from James Earl Ray’s rifle may have killed the man, but it failed to snuff out his ideals and goals, and they are still relevant. Let’s remember that as we remember Dr. King’s death and his legacy.