Rev. King, jobs and freedom


Fifty years ago today, America was utterly transformed by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s soaring idealism and eloquent vision for racial equality. A passionate orator and civil rights leader transcended the image he had in some quarters — polarizing even to the Kennedy White House, more threatening still to Middle America — and connected with our better instincts.

So, at least, it seems of a country that has come light-years forward in addressing its racial relations.

A nation that has elected and re-elected a black president can, and should, focus on the best-remembered but less contentious dream of when the content of our character will count for infinitely more than the color of our skin. But today, especially, America should also confront the harsher words in the Rev. King’s speech, and admit the lack of progress they illuminate even now.

This was, after all, the “March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom,” organized by the great labor leader A. Philip Randolph. It was not just about race.

“The Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity,” the Rev. King said that day.

Fixing that is the more difficult struggle, and not just for black Americans. The agenda laid out by the Rev. King, and further articulated and pursued by both Mr. Randolph and another civil rights leader, Bayard Rustin, is glaring for the failure to actually realize its goals.

The Rev. King’s dream extended to full employment and the elimination of poverty; strong and sustained economic growth; an adequate minimum wage and income parity for farmworkers; more equality in the tax laws; and more equity in economic policies.

Even modest progress toward what its proponents see as essential economic justice would be of enormous help in alleviating the racial tension that still persists. A march for jobs and freedom 50 years later would tread on racial common ground in a country where some 24 million adults are searching vainly for full-time work and 46 million Americans are stuck in poverty. It would allow for a hard and sober look at the racial disparities that plague contemporary America in the wildly unequal standards of living for blacks and whites.

Beyond a stubbornly high unemployment rate and a scandalously high poverty rate comes this racial breakdown: Almost twice as many blacks as whites are without jobs, and almost three times as many black children as white ones are poor.

What does that say about the content of the character of the nation that allows it?

The Rev. King’s constituency, especially toward the end of his shortened life, comprised the poor and working people of all races. Of them, he said:


On a day of reflection and celebration, let’s ponder that. The less comfortable parts of such a seminally historic speech, and the problems that it spoke to that endure today, cannot be overlooked.

6 Responses

  1. Charlie says:

    While attending a rehab discussion for recovering alcoholics and drug users I learned about enabling people to continue their habit and they used a term called tough love. When the relatives of the addicts looked at themselves they saw that they did things that enabled the abuser. The abuser would ask for $20 for gas to get to work. But instead of getting gas they got drugs. Tough love said you didn’t give them the money, instead you went and got them the gas.

    I much the same way, we enable the poor to be poor. They can live comfortably on the government dole and have little incentive to better themselves – much less work. Until we make it inconvenient to be obtaining government assistance noting will change

  2. bassjig34 says:

    Please note that you do not bother to mention that nearly twice as many blacks are born out of wedlock than whites or most other minorities. Also, as the government gets in the business of handing out more money to those folks (single parent homes) the situation continues to get worse. Perhaps if the government was to actively work to educate towards married persons having children and being raised in a household of two parents that this difference would have been rectified a long time ago. Economic Justice?? what is that another nod towards more taxes (ie redistribution of wealth) The major difference between today and yesteryear is that most racial issues arise from balcks towards whites. Again, a poin that the TU chooses to ignore.

  3. paco33 says:

    And every economic indicator has gotten worse for African-Americans during the Obama Administration – despite the fact that he is the nation’s first White/Black President (an ethnic group I assume exists following the TU’s description of George Zimmerman as a White/Hispanic).

  4. Jeffrey says:

    I find it interesting that posters will come on here demonizing the poor and any type of supports for them, but fail to mention the obscene amount of tax payer money that ends up in the hands of profitable corporations. For every dollar spent on the poor, disabled and elderly, nearly fifty in tax payer money is simply given to corporations like Exxon-Moblil, GE et. al. Economic justice suggests that people cannon survive on the current minimum wage…could you? And to compare the poor with recovering drug addicts is beyond asinine. Many of the “poor” are disabled and elderly, do they just need tough love to make them productive? And btw, please show me poor people who are “living comfortably”. Are there people who abuse the system??? You bet. The majority are white professionals who over bill medicaid. Any comments for them?

  5. Loni says:

    Jeffrey..”nearly fifty in tax payer money is simply given to corporations like Exxon-Moblil, GE et. al.” Are you talking about subsidies and loopholes? That is a different argument. No one is handing these businesses tax dollars.
    Large multinational oil companies have been among the largest payers of corporate federal taxes for years. Exxon’s income tax amount PAID was approximately the same in 2011 as it was in 2012 — $31 billion. A simple reason for Exxon’s position at the top of the tax paying list is its size. It vies with Wal-Mart each year for the spot as the publicly traded U.S. company with the greatest revenue.(USA Today, March 2013)

    Exxon’s average effective U.S. income tax rate over the last six years is about 29%, according to the firm’s security filings and an interview with a top Exxon tax lawyer. It’s one of the highest rates for any industry.

    Exxon’s income tax rate is below the 35% rate mandated by corporate tax law, but it’s widely believed most U.S. companies don’t pay that rate thanks to generous loopholes in the tax code.

  6. Albert J says:

    If some would bother to stop immediately ranting, about that which they know precious little about, and rationally consider the actual issues, we might get a lot further along towards correcting real problems.

    “Economic justice” is a really great bumper sticker slogan, but little else. If you are associating with a lot of people, “demonizing the poor and any type of supports for them” perhaps you need to widen your circle of associates. Sometimes it really is necessary to “smell the coffee” and accept reality, such as Minimum Wage jobs have NEVER BEEN INTENDED for people to survive, long term.

    They’re designed to provide STARTING and ENTRY level positions in the work force, from which people gain employment experience to move onward and upwards. In the same breath you castigate others for lumping all poor people into a single, negative category, you lump those you disagree with into a similar single, negative category you have created in the fantasy of your own mind, ostensibly to make yourself feel better.

    The harsh reality is simply, stupid is stupid, whether you are railing for something, or against something when you have no actual idea what you are railing about. You might consider, very little has ever been accomplished by thrashing about without any idea of what you’re doing, or why.

    A far higher percentage of those advancing into the “middle class” over the last several decades have been minorities who have seen the opportunities available to them and have elected to expend the effort necessary to seize those opportunities and turn them into a path forward, and upwards.

    Dr King’s stated objective was a hope that all people would be “judged on the content of their character rather the color of their skin”, so why are you surprised or shocked that those who choose NOT to improve the content of their character are so much slower to improve their personal situation?

    There are issues and problems in any and all families that simply cannot be fixed externally, by government or anyone else. The only source of correction available comes from within, and until that internal pressure is exerted and working, nothing else is going to help.

    Like others who refuse to accept the inevitable, you can chase external excuses forever, and get nowhere. As with most worthwhile corrections, none are easy, few are quick and all take hard work and determination. Unfortunately, there is no, “Free lunch”, “Checks in the mail” simply can’t arrive forever and, “I’m from the government and I’m here to help”, doesn’t always turn out as expected.