Why April 4th Still Lives in our Minds and Hearts
Today is April 4th, the day that Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 45 years ago. It is a sign that we are still living in the King era, that unlike other great figures in our history, his death is noted in addition to his birth in January. April 4th will fade with time as April 14, 1865, the day of President Abraham Lincoln's assassination, has. Today, though, King's life and words still speak to a country where racial differences are synonymous with racial disparities and where yearning to be accepted as full Americans has spread well beyond African Americans. Even the election of the first African American president has not caused the King era to recede. The King statue on the Mall does not commemorate a man who has passed into history. We still live with the history he made and left us to make.
Published: April 4, 2013