BLACK
HISTORY
February 8, 2017
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MONTH
Page 9
O PINION
Among Those Who Moved Us Forward
Coretta Scott
King’s legacy
grows stronger
b arbara r eynoldS
Coretta Scott King
died on Jan. 30, 2006.
Yet her legacy is very
much alive as a coali-
tion builder, a strate-
gist and a moral voice
that confronted detrac-
tors but insisted upon
non-violent approaches, such as
dialogue, protests and econom-
ic boycotts with the end goal of
peaceful reconciliation.
People are taking a fresh look at
the esteemed wife of Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr., seeing someone
who successfully moved them-
selves and others forward through
the heavy thicket of discrimina-
tion, such as the leading ladies in
the wonderful new film, “Hidden
Figures.”
A second look at King’s lega-
cy should focus on but go beyond
her well known decade’s ordeal
of successfully lobbying to make
King’s birthday a national holi-
day and building the Dr. Martin
Luther King Center for Social
Change in Atlanta. Tourists from
around the globe visit this site,
where her crypt and that of Dr.
King are located near Ebenezer
by
Baptist Church where Dr. King
preached and was funeralized.
Coretta King certainly came
to mind when millions recently
gathered in Washington, D.C. and
in sister cities around the world to
mount an overwhelm-
ing rebuke to Presi-
dent Donald Trump’s
anti-human
rights
campaign and his
denigration of wom-
en, minorities, immi-
grants and the physi-
cally challenged. Her
in 1968. A favorite slogan was:
“Women, if the soul of the nation
is to be saved, I believe that you
must become its soul.”
In 1977, President Jimmy Car-
ter appointed Coretta Scott King
a nonvoting delegate to the 32nd
General Assembly of the Unit-
ed Nations, where she advocated
for more international focus on
the human rights of women. That
same year in Houston, she served
as Commissioner on the Interna-
tional Women’s Year Conference
where she created quite a stir over
marriage or civil union. I believe
unequivocally that discrimination
because of sexual orientation is
wrong and unacceptable in a de-
mocracy that protects the human
rights of all its citizens.”
In the historic 1963 March on
Washington -- which catapulted
Dr. King to fame -- women were
not allowed to march with the
leaders or give a major address.
But without a doubt King, would
have played a supportive role in
the women’s march as did her
daughter, Bernice King.
In the historic 1963 March on Washington --
which catapulted Dr. King to fame -- women were
not allowed to march with the leaders or give a
major address. But without a doubt King, would
have played a supportive role in the women’s
march as did her daughter, Bernice King.
name was scrawled on home-
made signs scattered throughout.
It is appropriate that we remem-
ber her appeal to women and her
global human rights efforts. That
was the capstone of King’s 38
year mission as she shifted from
civil rights to a more global in-
clusive human rights agenda after
the assassination of her husband
her support for gay rights, an un-
popular issue at the time.
In her memoir she tells how
she opposed the various women’s
groups at the Conference who
were advocating a constitutional
ban on same-sex marriage. “I feel
that gay and lesbian people have
families and their families should
have legal protection, whether by
Coretta Scott King was a
spokeswoman for social justice
causes, both large and small, writ-
ing a syndicated news column on
issues from gun violence, to en-
vironmental racism, to apartheid
in South Africa. She was rarely
missing in action. “Sometimes
you win, just by showing up,” she
said, often referring to her role as
a ministry of presence.
King believed that it is citizen
action that is crucial to the mak-
ing of a president. She often said
that Ronald Reagan did not warm
to the idea of a Dr. King holiday
until the movement created a
groundswell for it with three mil-
lion signatures, marches and years
of lobbying Congress. He signed
it on Nov. 20, 1983.
In recent weeks several black
leaders have been publicly
scourged for meeting with Presi-
dent Trump through his transition
stage. King, however, would have
been knocking on his door, as she
did with all the other presidents in
her heyday. And she would not
have been there for photo-ops or
“selfies.” As a seasoned coalition
building she would have prepared
a well- crafted agenda, which
called upon Trump to govern as
president of all Americans.
In past years, King’s influence
was mammoth in the shaping of
the political landscape. She suc-
cessfully campaigned to elect
scores of liberals to political of-
fice, worked with Carter in the se-
lection of federal judges and threw
her weight against those who
stood in the way of voting rights.
Typical of her role is how she
confronted and helped block Ala-
bama U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions who
c ontinued on p age 18
Don’t Play into Trump’s Hand on Muslim Ban
I’m terrified,
heartbroken
and outraged
d ina e l -r ifai
I’m a Muslim
woman and a so-
cial justice advo-
cate.
I’m terrified,
heartbroken,
and outraged by
Donald Trump’s
“Muslim
ban.”
As I watched
administrative chaos and rapid-
ly organized protests unfold at
airports all over America, I was
overwhelmed with messages from
friends fearing they’d never be
able to see their loved ones again.
Though the executive order
doesn’t use these exact words, this
is no doubt a Muslim ban.
It’s not just that the countries
Trump wants to prohibit immigra-
tion from — Libya, Yemen, Iraq,
by
Iran, Syria, Sudan, and Somalia
— are majority-Muslim. It’s that
religious minorities (i.e. anyone
who isn’t Muslim) from those
countries will be prioritized for
entry into the U.S.
Refugees, immigrants, and
Muslims are human beings
— regardless of their age,
status, skills, or nation of ori-
gin. Many Americans realize
this, which is why thousands
have turned up at protests to
speak out against the ban.
But while they mean well,
non-Muslim opponents of
the ban still have to be care-
ful not to repeat dangerous stereo-
types when pushing back against
this extreme action.
For instance, you may have
heard that Trump’s order left off
the Muslim-majority countries
where President Trump has busi-
ness deals — some of which, like
Saudi Arabia and Egypt, happen
to be where individuals who’ve
carried out violent attacks hailed
from.
All of that’s true, of course,
and there’s value in pointing out
Trump’s unprecedented conflicts
of interest.
But in reality, Muslims in these
countries are the primary victims
of extremist violence there. And
suggesting that Trump should ban
those countries too only encourag-
es broadening the Muslim ban, not
ending it.
Another common argument
I’ve heard is that Muslim refugees
and immigrants strengthen nation-
al security by acting as police in-
formants and joining the military,
and that this ban could break the
bonds of trust that enable those
partnerships.
It’s true that Muslims are lead-
ing providers of tips to law en-
forcement agencies investigating
“terrorism.” But it’s not like all
Muslims are somehow connect-
ed to or aware of extremist plots.
We’re ordinary people, and we
shouldn’t have to be “useful” to
law enforcement to deserve fun-
damental rights.
The narrative link between Is-
lam and violence is used to justi-
fy military intervention abroad,
which in turn is used to justify
suspicion of Muslims at home.
Muslims are seen as potential “ter-
rorists,” to the point that the word
is popularly linked with Islam —
despite repeated horrific acts com-
mitted by white men in the U.S. in
the name of Christianity or white
nationalism.
This stereotyping feeds into
increased hate crimes and harass-
ment, as well as profiling and gov-
ernment surveillance of Muslims.
Sadly, Donald Trump isn’t
the first president to make things
worse for Muslims.
The Obama administration’s
wars were often justified through
the demonization and dehuman-
ization of Muslims. So were its
expansion of the drone program,
unwarranted surveillance, mili-
tarization of our borders and po-
licing, and record-breaking num-
bers of deportations.
Trump’s latest action is remi-
niscent of past immigration bans,
and the implications of where we
could go from here are terrifying.
Scary precedents include the ban
on immigration from Asia and the
great national shame of Japanese
internment.
Only by acknowledging the his-
tory of these systems and policies
— systems that existed long before
Trump took office — can we un-
derstand how to resist them today.
Trump’s Muslim ban has al-
ready been widely applied, and we
can’t ignore the threat of it grow-
ing. I, and so many Muslims, rec-
ognize this undeniable possibility.
We’re not safe. We’re targets here
and abroad.
So I’d ask this of my friends
and neighbors: Don’t reinforce
ideas that paint us as inherently
violent and undermine our hu-
manity. Reach out to us, support
us, uplift our voices and humanity.
Dina El-Rifai is a Policy Fel-
low at the American Friends Ser-
vice Committee. Distributed by
OtherWords.org.