Obama invokes King legacy in dedication to rights leader
- 13 years ago
U.S. President Barack Obama, the first black American President spoke of the struggles and far reaching consequences of legacy of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
As Obama faces a divisive political landscape in washington and unrest in parts of the country, he spoke at the dedication ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr National Memorial on the National Mall.
SOUNDBITE: U.S. President Barack Obama, saying: (English):
"As was true 50 years ago, as has been true throughout human history, those with power and privilege will often decry any call for change as divisive. They will say any challenge to the existing arrangement are unwise and destabilizing. Dr. King understood that peace without justice was no peace at all."
At a time when the President is battling with Congress over a jobs plan and as people are taking to the streets to decry economic injustice, Obama shared his thoughts about what King would say about these times.
SOUNDBITE: U.S. President Barack Obama, saying: (English):
"If he were alive to day I believe he would remind us that the unemployed worker can rightly challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonizing all who work there. That the businessman can enter tough negations with his companies union without vilifying the right to collectively bargain. He would want us to know that we can argue fiercely about the proper role and size of government without questioning each others love for this country. With the knowledge that within this democracy, government is not distant object but an expression of our common commitments to one another. He would call on us to assume the best in each other, rather than the worst. and challenge each other is ways that heal, rather than wound. in the end that is what I hope my daughters take away from this monument. "
The 120 million memorial covers four acres of the National Mall, where King once delivered his famous "I Have a Dream," speech.
King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his fight against racial discrimination through nonviolent means. He was assassinated in 1968.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters
As Obama faces a divisive political landscape in washington and unrest in parts of the country, he spoke at the dedication ceremony for the Martin Luther King Jr National Memorial on the National Mall.
SOUNDBITE: U.S. President Barack Obama, saying: (English):
"As was true 50 years ago, as has been true throughout human history, those with power and privilege will often decry any call for change as divisive. They will say any challenge to the existing arrangement are unwise and destabilizing. Dr. King understood that peace without justice was no peace at all."
At a time when the President is battling with Congress over a jobs plan and as people are taking to the streets to decry economic injustice, Obama shared his thoughts about what King would say about these times.
SOUNDBITE: U.S. President Barack Obama, saying: (English):
"If he were alive to day I believe he would remind us that the unemployed worker can rightly challenge the excesses of Wall Street without demonizing all who work there. That the businessman can enter tough negations with his companies union without vilifying the right to collectively bargain. He would want us to know that we can argue fiercely about the proper role and size of government without questioning each others love for this country. With the knowledge that within this democracy, government is not distant object but an expression of our common commitments to one another. He would call on us to assume the best in each other, rather than the worst. and challenge each other is ways that heal, rather than wound. in the end that is what I hope my daughters take away from this monument. "
The 120 million memorial covers four acres of the National Mall, where King once delivered his famous "I Have a Dream," speech.
King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his fight against racial discrimination through nonviolent means. He was assassinated in 1968.
Deborah Lutterbeck, Reuters