The commemoration of Martin Luther King’s Birthday on Monday became a day of confession, invective and promise for prominent Democrats, who used events across the country honouring the slain civil rights leader to try to inoculate themselves from criticism, lash out at President Donald Trump as a racist and, in one case, begin a history-making run for the White House.
From the nation’s capital to the South Carolina Statehouse to the Rev. Al Sharpton’s storefront headquarters in New York, the gatherings were solemn, spirited and reflected the fraught nature of what would have been the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 90th year.
They also reflected the political imperative of reaching out to black voters, who are a crucial part of the Democratic coalition and are increasingly demanding accountability on race from their own leaders.
Speaking at a breakfast in Washington, former Vice-President Joe Biden, who was first elected to public office the year after King’s assassination, acknowledged that more was expected of him at this moment.
Tough legislation
Mr. Biden said he regretted supporting the tough-on-crime drug legislation of the 1980s and 1990s, expressing remorse in particular over a Bill that created different legal standards for powdered cocaine and street crack cocaine.
“It was a big mistake that was made,” Mr. Biden said of the measure, which has been criticised as disproportionately affecting black Americans.
The former Senator, who helped write the 1994 crime Bill now cited as having led to an era of mass incarceration, went even further, allowing that he “may not have always gotten things right” in regards to criminal justice.
Mr. Biden’s remarks, at an event hosted by Sharpton, served as a pre-emptory move to head off criticism of his past policy decisions and made clear that he is both seriously considering a presidential bid and recognises the hurdles he would face from his increasingly progressive party.
Marquee event
In South Carolina, where the 2015 mass killing by a white supremacist prompted the State’s Governor to remove the Confederate battle flag from the statehouse grounds, about 1,000 people gathered in Columbia for a rally that has become a marquee event on the political calendar of a crucial early nominating state.
Senators Cory Booker (Democrat) and Bernie Sanders (independent), both likely presidential candidates, spoke to the attendees after attending an early-morning prayer service and marching with NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) leaders to the capitol. It is an annual rite that began in 2000 as a protest of the flag that once flew above the statehouse dome.
The day was drenched in history. The church that hosted the service, Zion Baptist, was poised to host King in the spring of 1968, but he postponed a trip there to remain with striking sanitation workers in Memphis, where he was assassinated.
Booker summoned the pastor’s words and those of other African-American icons to challenge the mostly black crowd to emulate King’s determination. “What is important is that we apply the ideals of Martin Luther King,” said the Senator, adding: “Our dissatisfaction has to turn in action.”
Sanders sought to link his signature call for “a political revolution” with the life of King.
© New York Times News Service
