Martin Luther King day finally in heart of Old South
By Frank Fuhrig
WASHINGTON (DPA): Even in the heart of the old South and slavery, in the state of Virginia, Americans Monday celebrated the birthday of the nation's most famous civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
What made the Virginia celebration special was this: Since King's birthday became a national holiday in 1984, Virginia has watered it down by also commemorating its famous Civil War Gen. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson, both Virginians who fought to retain slavery.
Many African-Americans in Virginia found the combination insulting.
"For black Virginians, and I am one, it was a slap in the face ... to link a day honoring two people who were part of a crusade that was divisive, with a man who was part of a crusade to bring everybody in harmony with the principles of the Republic, was difficult for people like me to understand," American history professor Ted DeLaney was quoted as saying by the Washington Post.
But Virginia passed a new law, and this year, Lee and Jackson were celebrated on Friday. Monday was devoted exclusively to King -- a sign of continuing change throughout the old South, where other states have done away with confederate symbols and statues.
Elsewhere around the country, President-elect George W. Bush -- a man who is largely unpopular in the black community especially after many African-American votes for Democratic candidate Al Gore were discounted in Florida -- spent the day in a predominately African-American school in Houston, Texas.
He compared underachievement in present-day schools serving minorities to the segregation that King opposed in the 1950s and 1960s.
"Today the challenge is different, but there's still a challenge," Bush said, according to the Houston Chronicle. "Every child can go to school now, but the fundamental question is, is every child learning."
He said that King "inspired millions of Americans to face their own consciences, and our nation is better for it."
President Bill Clinton spent part of Monday with AmeriCorps members, painting a senior center in Washington, D.C. Throughout his administration, one of Clinton's political pet projects was the AmeriCorps program, created in 1994 to promote volunteerism by offering more than 200,000 young people cash and scholarships in exchange for community service.
"This is a day we celebrate not only the life, but the service of Martin Luther King -- and not only the service of the famous, but the service of those who are not known -- embodied in the famous statement of Dr. King that everybody can be great because everybody can serve," Bush said.
Clinton, who departs from office on Saturday, added: "If I could leave America with one wish as I depart office, it would be that we become more the one America that we know we ought to be."
Clinton also signed an executive order Monday establishing the President's Commission on Educational Resource Equity.
Meanwhile, King's legacy has spread overseas. His widow, Coretta Scott King, founded a center in her husband's honor and has reported some form of commemoration in more than 100 countries.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution wrote that, "the Atlantan may be the only person, other than Jesus Christ, whose birthday is celebrated around the world."