READERS WRITE: APR. 17

MLK’s legacy, work well worth recent acclaim

In a recent letter to the editor (Readers Write, April 12), a reader expressed his aggravation and disappointment that the AJC covered the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s assassination and funeral. He argued that King is not worthy of such recognition. He is dead wrong. Rarely in the course of human events does someone emerge who epitomizes a movement and whose inflexible determination to make the world better lends its name to an era. Dr. King was such a force. The civil rights movement, which he led, defined America in the second half of the 20th Century. It set us apart from the rest of the world as a place where all people had equal opportunity. It was a hard road Dr. King traveled, a road full of obstacles, hatred, ridicule, prejudice, incarceration, threats and, ultimately, murder. Yet he soldiered on through a very short life to climb the mountain he proclaimed so eloquently and to let justice roll down like waters to all people, quoting the prophet Amos. Martin Luther King is not to be scorned. Rather, he should be celebrated, as the AJC did so well, for the lasting legacy he left us that all people must be treated equally under the law.