Every year on the third Monday of January, the United States celebrates the legacy of one of the most notable leaders of the Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. President Ronald Reagan signed the King Holiday Bill into law on November 2, 1983, officially designating this day as a federal holiday in observance of Dr. King. It took 15 years of dedicated activism around the nation for this piece of legislation to obtain the approval of the federal government, and 17 more years for it to be recognized by all 50 states. Today, it is designated as a national day of service, encouraging all Americans to volunteer their time and resources to the improvement of their communities.
While examining the extent to which Dr. King is often celebrated, including within the Adventist community, we find that these celebrations are not generally representative of the totality of Dr. King’s message. The messages of civil rights leaders thought to be more radical, such as Malcolm X, are juxtaposed with the more tolerable and popular messages of nonviolence and optimism preached by Dr. King. The way he is celebrated often reduces King to no more than “the schoolbook caricature of him as a Nice Man Who Just Wanted Everyone To Hold Hands And Stop Thinking About The Color Of People’s Skin.” (Current Affairs) When we take a deeper look into the complexity of Dr. King and the diligence with which he served his people, however, we find a more radical message than most may be willing to acknowledge, much less accept.
In his book “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?”, Dr. King says the following:
The white liberal must affirm that absolute justice for the Negro simply means, in the Aristotelian sense, that the Negro must have “his due.” There is nothing abstract about this. It is as concrete as having a good job, a good education, a decent house and a share of power. It is, however, important to understand that giving a man his due may often mean giving him special treatment. I am aware of the fact that this has been a troublesome concept for many liberals, since it conflicts with their traditional ideal of equal opportunity and equal treatment of people according to their individual merits. But this is a day which demands new thinking and the reevaluation of old concepts. A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for him, in order to equip him to compete on a just and equal basis.
On January 21, 2002, Andrews University held its inaugural commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, birthday. This celebration later became known as the Legacy of Freedom Celebration Weekend, continuing annually on campus under themes such as “Blessed are the Peacemakers.” These weekends have featured various seminars, workshops, and community service opportunities. During the first Legacy of Freedom Weekend, speaker Dr. Talbert Shaw drew upon King’s “dream” sentiment, encouraging students to continue to fulfill the dream by looking back on the actions of the revolutionaries and activists who came before them. In looking through the other archives documenting these MLK events, it was found that the celebration of this holiday largely focused on the ideals of peace and service. However, peace and service are not the full extent of Dr. King and his contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. It begs the question of whether AU has done the work of fully engaging with Dr. King’s true understanding of justice and activism and what these added elements could mean for our future celebrations of his legacy.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.