Events honoring King and defending his vision of a just society will be held across the nation as many in the United States watch the peaceful transfer of power in the capital.
When Donald Trump is sworn in as president of the United States inside the Capitol rotunda, he will do so in front of a bust of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the federal holiday commemorating King's legacy.
It's a troubling contrast for some civil rights advocates who want to fulfill the late leader's dream of a nonviolent social revolution.
Events honoring King and defending his vision of a just society will be held across the nation as many in the United States watch the peaceful transfer of power in the capital. The concurrent events have been met with mixed feelings by civil rights leaders, who generally repudiate Trump's rhetoric and his stances on race and civil rights.
But many leaders, including King's own family, see the juxtaposition as a poignant contrast and an opportunity to refocus the work of advancing civil rights in a new political era.
“I am glad that it happens on that day because it gives the United States and the world contrast in images. Is this the direction you want to go, or is this the direction you want to go?” declared the Rev. Bernice King, the late King's youngest daughter and CEO of the King Center.
“It's not a day where (Trump) will be the star, which he loves to be,” King's daughter said. “You have to deal with that legacy that day, regardless of how you handle it and address it in your presentation. I hope those around him are advising him well to honor the day appropriately in his speech.”
This is the third time in nearly 40 years since the King holiday was signed into law that it coincides with a presidential inauguration. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama also swore in their second terms on the holiday. Both praised King in their comments; It remains to be seen if and how Trump — who falsely claimed his first inauguration had larger crowds than King's March on Washington — will recognize the day.
“Will he deliver a message of unity and a presidency for all, or will he continue to focus on his base and some of the divisive policies he has championed, such as an anti-diversity stance, immigration raids and cuts to social welfare spending through this government efficiency process?” asked Marc Morial, president of the civil rights group National Urban League.
Morial added that Trump's inauguration on MLK Day represents “a contradiction of values.”
Many civil rights leaders will spend the day commemorating King's legacy after a week of public and private organizing, giving speeches and planning how to respond to the incoming administration's agenda.
“These are the best of times and the worst of times,” said Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People).
“Our mission does not change. “Our job is to make democracy work for everyone, to make sure equal protection is guaranteed under the law,” Johnson said. He added that the group “does not want to assume” that the Trump administration cannot be a partner in advancing civil rights or racial justice.
On Wednesday, Johnson and other civil rights leaders met with members of the Congressional Black Caucus to discuss how to work with and oppose the Trump administration. That same day, the National Action Network, a civil rights group founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, hosted a breakfast at which Vice President Kamala Harris urged attendees to stay motivated.
“Ours is a journey,” she stressed. “Whatever the outcome of any particular moment, we can never be defeated. Our spirit can never be defeated, because when that happens, we will not win.”
Martin Luther King III, the late King's eldest son, prayed with Harris on stage. King had campaigned for Harris in the fall and called her an advocate who “reflects the message of our better angels” and “embodies the legacy of Dr. King.”
Many racial justice advocates are ready to organize rallies, vigils and community service events to commemorate the holiday and prepare for what they see as an adverse administration.
Some groups are reflecting on parallels and differences with how King organized in the face of explicitly white supremacist state and local governments and geopolitical tumult.
“The hostility is similar, particularly in that there is a mobilized, active and aggressive right-wing extremism bent on undoing rights and any sense of shared purpose, shared problems or shared solutions,” said Maya Wiley, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights. and Humans. What differs, Wiley said, is the understanding that “there has to be opportunities for everyone.”
King himself worried that the legal protections to which he dedicated his life were not followed by greater anti-discrimination efforts or social programs. He proposed that it would take white Americans to forge a deeper relationship with black Americans and engage in economic and social solidarity to see change.
A year before his assassination in 1968, King wrote in his final book that giving a black person his “due” often required “special treatment.”
“I am aware of the fact that this has been a problematic concept for many liberals, as it conflicts with their traditional ideal of equal opportunity and equal treatment of people according to their individual merits,” King wrote in the 1967 book, “Where do we go from here: chaos or community.” “But this is a day that demands new thinking and the reevaluation of old concepts.”
King's advocacy for “new concepts” found an heir in the enactment of affirmative action policies in workplaces and schools. Many advocates of diversity, equity and inclusion policies see such programs as realizing their vision, although that argument has come under relentless scrutiny from conservative activists.
Trump's views on race have been criticized for decades. The federal government sued Trump for allegedly discriminating against black people seeking to rent apartments in the 1970s. Trump was instrumental in promoting the theory that Obama was not born in the United States. And his campaign rhetoric about immigrants and urban communities from 2015 until the November election has been denounced as biased.
As president, Trump signed some criminal justice reform laws that civil rights advocates praised, but then proposed harsh crackdowns on the 2020 racial injustice protests.
In April, Trump did not dispute the notion that “anti-white racism” now represents a bigger problem in the United States than systemic racism against African Americans.
“I think there is a definite anti-white sentiment in this country and that cannot be expressed either,” Trump said during an interview with Time magazine.
Late in his life, King reflected on the initial reaction to civil rights, especially with integrated housing, interracial marriages, and necessary economic and social programs. He expressed frustration with then-President Lyndon B. Johnson for prolonging the Vietnam War instead of making greater investment in anti-poverty efforts.
“That's where the civil rights movement is today. We will err and falter as we climb the unknown slopes of steep mountains, but there is no alternative, a level and well-trodden path,” King wrote. “There will be agonizing setbacks along with creative breakthroughs. Our consolation is that no one can know the true taste of victory who has never swallowed defeat.”