MLK reminder necessary

Wed., Jan. 20, 2010

The Spokesman-Review

I disagree with Mr. Manuel’s 50-year conclusion about Dr. King’s “manipulation” of civil rights (Letters, Jan. 16).

The assassinations of John and Robert Kennedy, and of Dr. King himself, deprived us of the sort of compassionate leadership which I think would have pursued a more fair and more effective solution than the quotas to which Mr. Manuel refers.

Dr. King was not an attorney, not a legislator and not a judge. We should not blame him for current ills. He surely would disapprove of some of the distortions of equal opportunity to which people of many races have been victims. He sought fairness and opportunity, not retribution.

That moral message is as needful now as it was in 1964, and I still like it. I’m glad for the annual reminder, in the form of a national holiday.

John Hancock

Spokane

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