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Change Your Life! |
King Jr.'s son tries to further father's `dream' |
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August 28, 2000
WASHINGTON (AP) - Martin Luther King Jr.'s son stood Saturday on the spot where the civil rights leader stirred America's conscience stood 37 year ago and repeated his father's challenge to the conscience of America: "I dare you to fulfill the dream." This time it was a new grievance that brought tens of thousands to the foot of the Lincoln Memorial. This time racial profiling -- the police practice of singling out blacks and Latinos as crime suspects -- and police brutality were laid before the country as the issues to fight. The gathering replicated the 1963 March on Washington, which brought more than a quarter-million protesters to demand that the government take note of the mistreatment of blacks at a time when many were denied the right to vote. The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., on the program then as a secondary speaker, electrified the moment with his "I have a dream" speech. Martin Luther King III, like his father, received second billing, this time to the Rev. Al Sharpton, the New York City civil rights activist. "The day my father dreamed about has not yet been realized in our lending institutions, nor in our employment offices, nor even in our nation's courtrooms," said King. He asked President Bill Clinton to issue an executive order outlawing racial profiling. "A black man can walk over a bridge, but he cannot drive over it without being stopped," King told a cheering crowd. Sharpton challenged Vice President Al Gore and Texas Gov. George W. Bush to pledge their support. "Both of you are running for president, but you can't run from us," he said. "If you want us, you have to come to us and address our concerns." Sharpton said he and King had chosen the 37th anniversary of the elder King's speech because of the millennial election year and the need for immediate action. Sharpton said he would consider the event a success if the White House and Congress were motivated to outlaw racial profiling and combat police brutality. Organizers for the "Redeem the Dream" event estimated the turnout at 100,000. The crowd in front of the Lincoln Memorial sprawled down either side of the 440-yard- meter) long reflecting pool for about half of its length toward the Washington Monument. Victims of police brutality addressed the crowd, including Abner Louima, a Haitian immigrant who in 1997 was brutalized with a broken broomstick in a New York police station. "We (are) tired of being judged for our skin color. We want to be judged for our hearts only," Louima said, adding that elected officials become blind to racial problems once they're in office. Also speaking were Kadiatou and Saikou Diallo, parents of Amadou Diallo, an immigrant from Guinea in West Africa. He was shot 19 times in 1999 in the vestibule of his apartment building by New York police officers who said they feared he was reaching for a gun. The only object found was his wallet. Coretta Scott King, wife of the slain leader, and other principals from the 1963 march also spoke.
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