U of Oregon Debates Removing MLK Quote For Not Being Inclusive Enough

Student leaders at the University of Oregon debated removing a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. from its student center, arguing that the quote was not inclusive enough for modern understandings of diversity. Oregon's Erb Memorial Union, which is currently under renovation, had the following famous King quote on the wall: "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. I have a dream..."

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Townhall: The Left is Killing King’s Dream

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., August 28, 1963 | AP Photo

By Michael Schaus - The spectacle of the pro-Obama rally yesterday, disguised insufficiently as a tribute to one of America’s civil rights heroes, was rife with an undercurrent of unintentional irony. After all, it was the Democrat Party that led the Confederacy in the Civil War, opposed the civil rights legislation throughout the 20th Century, and used the federal government to intimidate would-be civil rights activists. The event, however, did awaken a renewed interest in the words of Martin Luther King Jr. for many Americans. One line, above all else, from his 1963 Address at the Lincoln Memorial speaks today as a testament to Liberalism’s callous, and repeated, failings in the black community.

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A History Lesson in the East Room [with comments added]

February 18, 2009, The Caucus, A New York Times Blog by Rachel L. Swarns - First Lady Michelle Obama opened the doors of the White House to 180 sixth and seventh graders on Wednesday for a Black History Month celebration that included two pep talks and a rousing musical performance.

The students, who came from three local schools here, heard from Adm. Stephen W. Rochon, the chief usher, who runs the mansion and oversees everything from state dinners to redecorating. He is the first African-American [named by REPUBLICAN President George W. Bush] to hold that position.

They also heard from Mrs. Obama, who told the students a little bit about the black history of the White House. She talked about the slaves who helped build the executive mansion, about Lincoln [first REPUBLICAN President] signing the Emancipation Proclamation there and about Marie Seilka, a soprano, who became the first African-American artist to perform in the White House in 1878 [by invitation of REPUBLICAN President and Mrs. Rutherford B. Hayes].

She described President Kennedy’s meeting with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. [REPUBLICAN Civil Rights leader]…* [Yes, he was!] in the White House and President Obama, who is the first African-American president to live there. Then – as her daughters, Malia and Sasha, listened along with the students — she urged the students to remember that they would write the next chapters in history. 

“So you have to ask yourselves, what will you do in life to help someone else in need?” Mrs. Obama said to the young people who were gathered in the East Room. “You have to ask yourselves, what are you going to do to make your own community stronger? What are you going to do to make sure that this nation is even greater? And what are you doing right now in school and in your neighborhoods to prepare yourselves to assume a level of responsibility and to be good citizens?"

“Think about, as the Admiral says, getting up every single day and working hard, as hard as you can; putting your best foot forward all the time, not just when somebody is looking, but every single moment; and supporting your family, the folks in your own households; making your beds, putting the dishes up, cleaning your rooms," she said.

“That’s not just a story that Barack Obama is writing, or Admiral Rochon is writing," the first lady said. “Those are the stories that we’re all writing together. And you’re an important part of that."

And after that, the five members of the all-female, African American a cappella ensemble, Sweet Honey in the Rock, sang their hearts out.

Comments by: PJ Hunter (believing that details matter).

*Broken link above "[Yes, he was!]:  Testimony of MLK's niece that her Uncle Martin was a Republican

[Added 2/17/2014 Re: MLK: REPUBLICAN President Ronald Reagan made Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr's birthday a national holiday] Read More......