Praise for King, unease over Trump
Martin Luther King III, met privately with the president-elect at Trump Tower in New York. The younger King described the meeting as “productive.”
Trump won fewer than 1 out of 10 black voters in November, and tensions have flared anew with his recent criticism of civil rights icon John Lewis.
Bernice King avoided a detailed critique of Trump, but she said the nation has a choice between “chaos and community,” a dichotomy her father preached about. “At the end of the day, the Donald Trumps come and go,” she said, later adding, “We still have to find a way to create … the beloved community.”
The current Ebenezer pastor, the Rev. Raphael Warnock, did not call Trump by name but praised his predecessor. “Thank you, Barack Obama,” he said. “I’m sad to see you go.”
In South Carolina, speakers at a state Capitol rally said minority voting power has never been more important, and some attendees expressed unease about Trump joining forces with Republican congressional majorities.
“It’s going to be different, that’s for sure,” said Diamond Moore, a Benedict College senior who came to the Capitol. “I’m going to give Trump a chance. But I’m also ready to march.”
Sen. Bernie Sanders brought the Ebenezer assembly to its feet with his reminder that King 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.
Activist priest Michael Pfleger, himself a self-described radical, built on Sanders’ message with a 45-minute keynote message indicting the nation’s social and economic order.
Pfleger said many Americans too quickly dismiss violence in poor neighborhoods as the fault of those who live there, when the real culprit is a lack of opportunity and hope. “If you put two lions in a cage and you don’t feed them,” he said, “one will kill the other in the pursuit of survival.”