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The eldest son of Martin Luther King Jr. has said that US President Donald Trump does not have the moral compass to unify America.
Martin Luther King III told RTÉ News that Donald Trump “is not a unifier” but “intentionally a divider” due to the lack of a moral center and Trump’s belief that creating division helps him win.
With coronavirus deaths in the United States rising to 200,000 and ongoing protests over racial injustice, King said different leadership is needed to unite the nation.
The human rights defender was 10 years old when his father, the most visible American civil rights activist, was assassinated in 1968.
On RTÉ’s “States of Mind” podcast, King said that if his parents were alive, they would be disappointed to learn that America is more divided than ever.
Almost 60 years ago at the Lincoln Memorial in 1963, Martin Luther King Jr delivered his iconic ‘I have a dream’ speech to 250,000 people calling for civil and economic rights and an end to racism.
“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged on the color of their skin, but on the content of their character.”
Fifty-seven years later, his granddaughter and King’s daughter, Yolanda Renee King, stood on the same steps telling the crowd that she was making it a personal priority to put social justice and equality first after a summer of protests and riots over systemic racism.
“Less than a year before he was assassinated, my grandfather predicted this very moment … he said we were entering a new phase of the fight. The first phase was for civil rights, and the new phase is a fight for a true equality, “the 12-year-old said in late August.
While Martin Luther King III is proud of his daughter’s words about the fulfillment of her father’s dream, he said he believes her parents would not be happy with recent events.
“They would be silently saddened by the fact [that] since we as a nation have not advanced any further and we find ourselves in a situation in which our nation is very divided, more divided than ever, “he said.
“Nothing will change unless he [Donald Trump] it was voted in November, “King added.
While Donald Trump has supported funding for historically black colleges and universities and championed criminal justice reform, King said he said Trump “has done more for the African-American community than Abraham Lincoln, it just isn’t true.”
Donald Trump’s attitude toward Confederate monuments, housing policies and denial of systemic racism in the United States highlights the president’s “racist tone,” according to King.
King acknowledged that Democrats “should and could have done more” for African Americans and that Joe Biden has made some mistakes, but those mistakes do not “diminish who he is” and there is a real opportunity with him for change.
“The hope is that most people will say ‘you know we can’t tolerate this anymore and we must vote for a different leadership,'” he said.
He said that if people are willing to work together, they can create what his father called the “beloved community,” making America what it should be.
“My wife always shares this phrase with me: we have to work for change, we have to pray for change and we have to be change, and if love is not yet won then the battle is not over yet,” he recited, concluding that The November elections should be a “very easy choice” for Americans.
To listen to ‘States of Mind’ on Apple podcasts, click here
To listen on Spotify click here
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