The holiday honoring the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. has taken on its own set of rituals. They usually involve a community march and many recitations of King's momentous "I Have a Dream" speech by earnest, young orators. But if we are to carry King's dream forward, we need a deeper understanding of his legacy. This year, in a time of war, we should especially heed King's messages for peace.
"Don't let anybody make you think that God chose America as His divine messianic force to be -- a sort of policeman of the whole world. God has a way of standing before the nations with judgment, and it seems that I can hear God saying to America: 'You are too arrogant! If you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power.'"
King's statement remains as salient now as it did when he made it in a sermon in 1967. We are at war, President Bush constantly reminds us. And his supporters on right-wing radio routinely deride anyone who dares to question the president's policies. They tell us, essentially, that as long as we are fighting terrorism, we can justify unleashing our military might and rhetorical bombs at almost any target we choose. If you criticize Bush, they say you are unpatriotic. King faced similar hostility in his lifetime.
Thirty-six years after his murder, we should be beyond such crassness. Too many in the international community see us as bullies intent on fighting for the "giant triplets" of racism, militarism and materialism King warned us about so eloquently. We have lost credibility in the United Nations. We have dropped out of longstanding international treaties and have disrespected loyal and powerful friends.
Now, amid statements from former Bush Secretary of the Treasury Paul O'Neill that Bush intended to attack Iraq from the first day he took office in 2000, we have hard questions to ask. With daily reports of American soldiers being killed in Iraq, we need to know why Bush put our soldiers at risk -- our sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, husbands and wives. Iraq didn't attack America on Sept. 11, as Bush and others in his administration themselves have admitted. And Iraq doesn't have nuclear weapons.
The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace recently criticized Bush for "systematically misrepresenting" the threats posed by Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction. The Carnegie report also said that U.N. sanctions against the country had "effectively destroyed" its capability to produce such weapons. King tried to tell us that peacemaking requires restraint. It demands a sturdy love that can overcome the anger engendered by our grievances and feuds. He led thousands to demonstrate the power of this kind of love in the nonviolent civil-rights movement. It was not mushy sentimentality that faced the police dogs in Birmingham and the state troopers on the Edmond Pettis Bridge in Selma, Ala.
It was a love that created dignity, courage and persistence as a living force in those who faced down injustice and became the rightful conscience of our nation. As another Martin Luther King Jr. Day comes and goes, we need to ask ourselves how we can fight to heed his warnings and keep his ideals alive. In doing so, we must work to make our nation a true force for peace and justice throughout the world.
Starita Smith is an award-winning writer and editor based in Denton, Texas, where she is a doctorate student in sociology at the University of North Texas. She is a former reporter and editor at the Austin American-Statesman, the Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch and the Gary (Ind.) Post-Tribune.