Posted on 01/15/2006 9:53:43 AM PST by LdSentinal
As local clergy prepared to celebrate the legacy of the late Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. this weekend, some expressed dismay over the unlikely alliance between a King niece and a right-wing group.
Last Sunday, the slain civil-rights leader’s niece Alveda King joined Jerry Falwell, Toney Perkins of the Family Research Council and other staunch conservatives at a Philadelphia rally in support of Supreme Court Nominee Judge Samuel Alito. Perkins is best known for having once paid former Ku Klux Klan head David Duke for his mailing list.
Democrats had been sharply critical of Alito’s record on voting rights and his membership in a Princeton group that allegedly sought to curb the numbers of women and minorities at the school.
Alveda King spoke at the Philadelphia event, dubbed “Justice Sunday” and simulcast on radio,television and the Internet, and even led the group in a rendition of “We Shall Overcome.”
“It’s a surprise to hear that his niece would do something like that,” said the Rev. Gregory G. Groover, pastor of the Charles Street African Methodist Episcopal Church in Roxbury.
It’s hardly the first time a civil-rights activist unexpectedly crossed political lines, Groover said, citing by example the Rev. Ralph Abernathy, who helped King organize the Montgomery bus boycott.
“Abernathy endorsed Reagan against Jimmy Carter” in the 1980 presidential race, Groover recalled.
But another local pastor said he was dismayed that conservative religious leaders would try to co-opt Dr. King’s name and signature gospel song.
“I’m concerned about the so-called right wing Christian conservatives who only rally black people when it is to their advantage but don’t stand with black people when they are hurting,” said the Rev. William Dickerson of the Greater Love Tabernacle Church in Dorchester.
But as they prepared to remember the Rev. King in ceremonies this morning, these pastors said the conservative rally, the television images after Hurricane Katrina, are but two reminders that King’s dream is far from realized. “It’s a blatant reminder that we are nowhere close to where we ought to be in the 21st century,” Groover said. “The land of the free is still by far just a dream.”
Sounds like Jesse and Al, to me.
Oh brother, here we go again. Someone should take out a few of Dr King's speeches and read them to these bigots.
I think he's confusing the Right with the Left.
``` Perkins is best known for having once paid former Ku Klux Klan head David Duke for his mailing list.
````
No bias there, eh?
Why? Wasn't that part of King's dream -- that people would be judged not by the color of their skin but the content of their character?
Why should anyone expect her to belong to one particular party or have one particular political point of view? She's free to vote and speak her conscience. God bless America!
BTTT
Ain't it awful when black people jump the fence, escape the plantation and think counter to the race hustlers and poverty pimps?
King, Hubert Humphrey and even Adlai Stevenson would probably all be Republicans today. Rino's in some estimations maybe but Republicans as their views would have no place in the democrat party of today.
Sounds EXACTLY like Clinton, Gore and Kerry campaigning in black churches.
Why didn't they interview Rev. Henry Lusk, Bishop G.E. Patterson or T.D. Jakes? They are some fine African-American preachers who are very pro-life. Instead they went to the usual liberals for their soundbites.
Tomorrow will be the first time I've ever had MLK Day off. In honor of MLK, I will spend it sleeping in, cross-stitching (an afghan with roses on it, if anyone is interested), playing City of Heroes, and drinking beer.
Oh my god....we be havin sistas jump de chains and hop the freedom train off the Leftist Democrat Planation?
Can't be havin dat - kin we?
The dysfuntional and corrupt MLK family, continues to amaze, amuse and shock....
Semper Fi
The group was opposed lowering admissions standards.
Note how the liberal news media distorts this position.
“It’s a surprise to hear that his niece would do something like that,” <<
Why would she want to leave the "plantation"?
As I understand it King stood for creating a color blind society free of discrimination. He didn't stand for the Democrat party and/or reverse discrimination.
Wonder what Robert KKK Byrd is best known for ?
What server?
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