Keller @ Large: Honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. By Reading His Last Speech
BOSTON (CBS) - I recently heard someone refer to the O.J. Simpson case as "the crime of the century," but those of us old enough to remember what happened on April 4, 1968, know that's not accurate.
The crime of the 20th century was the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose birthday we celebrate every year on this day.
It deprived our country of one of its greatest leaders and exposed how violent racism remained deeply imbedded in our culture.
If you want to honor this day, you might consider gathering the kids together and reading them Dr. King's last public words, his speech in Memphis the night before he was murdered.
There's a passage in it that seems timely, in which Dr. King mocks efforts to stifle the protest against racist treatment of black sanitation workers that brought him to Memphis:
"All we say to America is, 'Be true to what you said on paper.' If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand some of these illegal injunctions. Maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they hadn't committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right."
Martin Luther King Jr. and the movement he lead represented the best of our country; his haters and his killer, the worst. He knew our history, and our constitution – his enemies were ignorant of them.
Which role model do you want your children to follow?
Listen to Jon's commentary:
