Today, we reflect on the extraordinary life of civil rights leader the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., one of the most gifted orators and thinkers of our time.
King demanded fairness and opportunity for all. Under King's leadership, the ideals of the grassroots civil rights movement eventually were codified into federal legislation and court decisions. While King's life was cut short by an assassin's bullet, his legacy is enduring and profound.
Consider the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Prior to its passage, restaurants, hotels and other public accommodations could exclude anyone on the basis of race, religion or nationality. Likewise, private employers were free to engage in the same sorts of discrimination. A year later, continued political pressure resulted in the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which toppled efforts in several states, mainly in the South, to prohibit African-Americans from voting.
In the years since, numerous court cases and other pieces of federal legislation, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act, have helped extend civil rights protections to other communities. While the changes were achieved long after King's death, they resonate of his vision of America — a land of opportunity for all.
While the law has evolved over the years, attitudes in some sectors have not. On the occasion of King's birthday, Americans should acknowledge this nation's immense progress with respect to civil rights. But they should also recognize that civil rights abuses occur in 2002; that much work remains to ensure all Americans share in King's dream of a nation where people are judged not by the color of their skin but the content of their character.
America has moved closer to that ideal and yet, many ethnic minorities report that racial profiling is commonplace. Members of America's Arab-American and Islamic-American communities have been under particular scrutiny since Sept. 11. Some have been physically attacked or their homes, businesses and places of worship have been vandalized.
In Salt Lake City, a Pakistani-owned restaurant was torched following the Sept. 11 attacks by a misguided man who believed he was somehow avenging terrorism by setting fire to a business.
It is unfair to paint with a broad brush. Most Americans embrace the ideals of freedom and opportunity for all. But the exceptions to those sensibilities remind us that there is much work to be done to stamp out the lingering hatred and bigotry that stands in the way of fully realizing King's vision of a just and equitable America.