Remembering King.

Byline: The Register-Guard

More than three decades after Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on a motel balcony in Memphis, Tenn., too many Americans have embraced diluted and selective interpretations of his message.

For example, many now remember King solely as the black leader of a movement for black equality - a myopic perception that one historian has suggested may explain why most parks, streets and schools named after the late civil rights leader are located in predominantly black neighborhoods across the country.

While partially accurate, this narrow view disregards King's liberating impact on white Americans who were trapped by the cruel, confining shackles of prejudice and racial hatred. It also overlooks the expansive focus of King's ministry, which sought to address the forces of poverty and social injustice that afflicted both blacks and whites in the United States and across the world.

Others conjure up an image of King as a black Santa Claus who preached a fuzzy, warm message of love and tolerance. Such an understanding fails to recognize King's core radicalism and his maddeningly stubborn - and effective - demand for real, substantive change in the here and now.

Veteran civil rights reporter Jack E. White notes that most Americans know the line from King's most famous speech: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

But most have forgotten, says White, that the same speech was peppered with hard-nosed demands. "We have come to our nation's capital to cash a check," King said. "When the architects of our Republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked `insufficient funds.' '

Many also portray King as a politically correct humanist, overlooking the reality that he was a Baptist preacher who drew his strength and inspiration from a strong and abiding Christian faith and thorough familiarity with the Scriptures. As columnist Paul Greenberg recently noted, it was that faith that enabled King to embrace even violent white segregationists as his brothers - as prodigal sons who had gone astray. ``I must still believe there is something within them that can cause them one day to come to themselves and rise up, walk back up the dusty road to the father's house," King said.

Many also have forgotten King's unswerving commitment to nonviolence, and the tremendous courage it took to preach his message in the face of exploding bombs, blasting fire hoses, snarling dogs and harassing, wiretapping government agents who were intent on silencing him.

Such diminished, inaccurate portrayals of King do more than mess with history. They threaten to deprive younger generations of the true power of King's legacy, which remains as relevant today as it was 34 years ago.

Although the plot lines and faces have changed, the fundamental problems of poverty, racism and militarism are every bit as serious in today's world as they were in 1955 when King assumed leadership of the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott.

While one does well to be cautious in predicting what King might say about any given issue or problem (some manipulative souls have even dared suggest that King, if he were alive today, would be battling affirmative action), the civil rights leader would certainly have much to say about the Bush administration's economic policies that are broadening the chasm between the haves and have-nots in this country. Consider these words spoken nearly 40 years ago about the lack of medical care for the poor: "Of all of the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."

The administration's preparations for a preemptive strike against Iraq bring to mind these words of King:

"The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it."

King would have much to say in these times. And the man who once observed that "silence is betrayal" would have no hesitation in speaking out.

As Americans observe this holiday that celebrates King's message and example, they should honor this extraordinary man by remembering him as he truly was - a prophet who spoke boldly, lovingly, truthfully and unrelentingly to our condition.