| 50 YEARS SINCE MLK. |
| On April 4, 1968 – five decades ago to the day – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was murdered on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. King risked and ultimately sacrificed his life in a fight for racial and economic justice in America. Hear civil rights leaders of today reflect on his legacy. |
| But his legacy is too often co-opted and his message appropriated by people who are actually fighting for policies that stand in opposition to King’s values. Dr. King was in Memphis for a sanitation workers’ strike, and throughout his life, he argued for better wages, working conditions, and strong unions for low-income workers and communities of color. But the Trump administration and many in Congress are enacting policies that weaken Americans’ power to organize into unions and earn decent wages. And the congressional Republicans’ tax plan will only exacerbate the wealth gap, which King fought so hard to end. King also devoted much of his life to ending the injustices within our health care system, saying, “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.” But too many of our members of Congress are trying to undermine the progress made under the Affordable Care Act. He fought tirelessly for the Voting Rights Act of 1965, but conservatives in power have essentially turned back the clock through voter ID laws, gerrymandered districts, and voter roll purges – all of which disproportionately disadvantage people of color. |
| So on a day when we honor the legacy and radically progressive message of a great leader, don’t fall for the rhetorically fluffed messages from people like Vice President Mike Pence, who says he “honors the man and the Dream.” Pence has dedicated his entire life to oppressing minorities and disadvantaging every American who does not share every single one of his traits. Politicians like him are just hoping you believe their whitewashed version of King’s message of peace and equality, rather than the reality of his radical distaste for institutions that systemically and systematically stack the deck in favor of the rich and powerful and against the poor and people of color. |
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