Dr. King, Inauguration Day and Our Democracy
In the coming days our nation will be marking two occasions: the national holiday honoring the life, service and leadership of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the peaceful transfer of power from one presidential administration to another that we call Inauguration Day.For me, both days will be emotional. Both days call for reflection. Both days demand our renewed commitment to the ideals that our country aspires to live up to.
Dr. King devoted his life not only to creating better conditions in his day, but to creating a better future. He challenged us to be as good a nation in practice as we are on paper, and his struggle for justice changed America and inspired civil rights movements across the globe. He understood that the remedies for discrimination and injustice can be found within our public institutions. And he believed that those institutions and laws, and the resilient American spirit, make us unique. (Many excellent classroom resources for teaching about Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement are available on the NEA website.)
Inauguration Day has always been bittersweet. Those whose candidate won are jubilant. Those whose candidate lost are disappointed. The traditions of having all the living past presidents of both parties sitting on the stage to witness the swearing-in is designed to show Americans that whether or not you supported the person elected, that person is now president, and the ceremony draws a bright line between the end of one administration and the beginning of another.
To say that I’ll be among the “disappointed” on Inauguration Day would not do justice to what continues to boil inside me. I said before the election that Donald Trump was uniquely unqualified, morally and temperamentally, to be our president. Election Day did not change that. Inauguration Day will not change that.
But I have been reflecting on Martin Luther King, Jr. He understood that acknowledging the political power of Dr. King, Inauguration Day and Our Democracy - Lily's Blackboard: