King Day highlights transition
Trump, King’s son meet; daughter recalls father
ATLANTA — As Americans celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., civil rights leaders and activists are trying to reconcile the transition from the nation’s first black president to a president-elect still struggling to connect with most non-white voters.
King’s daughter on Monday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, encouraged Americans to fight for the slain civil rights leader’s vision of love and justice “no matter whois in the White House.”
In Atlanta, Bernice King addressed more than 2,000 people gathered at her father’s Ebenezer Baptist Church four days before President- elect Donald Trump’s Inauguration. She spoke on the same day that her brother, Martin Luther King III, met with Trump at Trump Tower in New York.
King III said his meeting with Trump was “productive.”
He said Trump pledged to be a president for all Americans, but added “we also have to consistently engage with pressure, public pressure” because “it doesn’t happen automatically.”
Trump didn’t take questions from reporters after the meeting.
On Monday morning Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said on Twitter that the meeting with King III, the civil rights leader’s oldest son, was intended to discuss his late father’s legacy. Trump was initially planning to travel to Washington on Monday to visit the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, but canceled because of scheduling issues, ABC News reported, citing transition Martin Luther King III, right, said his meeting Monday in New York with President-elect Donald Trump was “productive.” sources.
Trump’s Monday meeting represented a mix of symbolism and substance. King III has campaigned for years to establish a form of free government photo identification that could make it easier for Americans who lack a driver’s license or other official ID to cast ballots. He and the other meeting attendees have urged Trump to endorse the idea of making such identification free. But the gathering also provided Trump with an opening to the black community.
Trump won fewer than 1 out of 10 black votes in November after a campaign of racially charged rhetoric, and tensions have flared anew with his recent criticism of civil rights icon John Lewis, whom the presidentelect called “all talk” and “no action.”
Trump tweeted Monday: “Celebrate Martin Luther King Day and all the many wonderful things that he stood for. Honor him for the great man that he was!”
Bernice King avoided a detailed critique of Trump, but said the nation still has a choice between “chaos and community,” as her father once said.
“At the end of the day, the Donald Trumps come and go,” she said, adding “we still have to find a way to create” what her father called “the beloved community.”
The current Ebenezer pastor, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, avoided calling Trump by name, but praised his predecessor. “Thank you, Barack Obama,” he said. “I’m sad to see you go.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., brought the Ebenezer assembly to its feet with his reminder that Martin Luther King Jr. was not just an advocate for racial equality, but a radical proponent for economic justice — a mission that put him at odds with the political establishment.
“If you think governors and senators and mayors were standing up and saying what a great man Dr. King was, read history, because you are sorely mistaken,” roared Sanders.
Warnock, meanwhile, zeroed in on Trump for his treatment of Lewis, now a Georgia congressman who represents most of Atlanta.
Lewis angered Trump when he told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he views Trump as “illegitimate” because of alleged Russian interference in the campaign. Trump retorted on Twitter that Lewis is “all talk” and said his district is “crime infested.”
“Anybody who suggests that John Lewis is all talk and no action needs a lesson in American history,” Warnock said.
Lewis was in Miami at King Day events.
President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama honored Martin Luther King Jr.’s memory by painting a mural at a family shelter in Washington.
The Obamas joined residents of the Jobs Have Priority Naylor Road shelter to paint a display of the slain civil rights activist on a wall in the community room.
Also Monday, a Mississippi city voted to ditch “Great Americans Day” and instead celebrate the King holiday. The Biloxi City Council voted 6-0 to change the name of the holiday in the city code.
The Sun Herald reported that the vote came moments before the beginning of an annual parade honoring King.
Monday’s federal holiday was recognized in most states as MLK Day. In Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas the holiday has a dual designation honoring King and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.