Why Bernice King believes MLK Day is a “saving grace” amid today’s political climate.
ATLANTA (AP) — Amid deep political divisions and ongoing turmoil, the daughter of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. says the holiday honoring her father’s legacy feels especially meaningful this year, calling it “something of a saving grace.”
Bernice King, speaking with The Associated Press, said the observance brings “a sense of sanity and morality” to what she described as a deeply troubling national climate. She added that Dr. King’s message continues to remind people of hope and of the responsibility to confront injustice and inhumanity, even in difficult times.
The holiday coincides with President Donald Trump nearing the first anniversary of his second term in office on Tuesday. King noted that the “three evils” her father warned about in a 1967 speech—poverty, racism, and militarism—remain highly visible today, saying they are “very present and manifesting in much of what is happening” under Trump’s leadership.
King, who serves as CEO of the King Center in Atlanta, pointed to moves to dismantle diversity, equity, and inclusion programs; orders to erase significant historical content from government websites and eliminate what is labeled “improper ideology” from Smithsonian museums; and immigration enforcement actions in several cities that have escalated into violence and led to families being torn apart.
“Everything President Trump does is aimed at serving the best interests of the American people,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in an email. “This includes dismantling what he describes as harmful DEI agendas, removing dangerous criminal illegal immigrants from U.S. communities, and making sure the nation presents an honest account of its history.”
Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights—one of the country’s oldest and largest civil rights coalitions—said that King’s message “feels even more relevant today.”
“We are living in a moment where a regime is actively trying to erase the Civil Rights movement from our history,” she said. “This administration has been deliberately and ideologically dismantling nearly every gain we’ve achieved since the Civil War.”
Wiley also pointed to King’s warning that “the threat of war abroad was eroding the beloved community worldwide and diverting resources from caring for our own people.” She noted that under Trump’s administration, military actions have included strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels and the surprise capture of Venezuela’s president earlier this month.
Bernice King said she cannot say for certain how her father would view the United States today, nearly 60 years after his assassination.
“He’s not here. This is a different time,” she said. “But what I do know is that his teachings are timeless, and he showed us a path for confronting injustice through his philosophy and practice of nonviolence.”
She added that nonviolence should extend beyond activists and protest movements to include immigration agents and other law enforcement officials. In line with that belief, King said the King Center previously developed a training curriculum—now slated for redevelopment—aimed at helping officers perform their duties while still honoring the dignity and humanity of those they serve.
Even in what she described as a “troubling climate” nationwide, Bernice King said there is no denying that the United States has made significant progress. She noted that the civil rights movement led by her parents helped bring more people into the political mainstream who are guided by empathy and compassion. And despite attempts to dismantle DEI programs and carry out mass deportations, she said, “we are so deeply rooted in diversity that there’s no way to put it back in a box.”
In honoring her father’s legacy this year, King encouraged people to turn their focus inward.
“We spend so much time watching what everyone else is doing or failing to do,” she said. “We’re constantly looking out at the world’s problems and talking about how bad things are, but we don’t devote nearly enough time to examining ourselves on a personal level.”
