Today's Daily Lesson are words from the Eulogy for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. given at his funeral by Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays. They speak to a people's collective guilt and responsibility. They also speak of the importance of standing up for democracy -- then and now, and the power the people of peace, goodwill, and justice have to bring forth a more just society:
"The Memphis officials must bear some of the guilt for Martin Luther’s assassination. The strike should have been settled several weeks ago. The lowest paid men in our society should not have to strike for a more just wage. A century after Emancipation, and after the enactment of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, it should not have been necessary for Martin Luther King Jr. to stage marches in Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma, and go to jail thirty times trying to achieve for his people those rights which people of lighter hue get by virtue of their being born white. We, too, are guilty of murder. It is time for the American people to repent and make democracy equally applicable to all Americans. What can we do? We, and not the assassin, represent America at its best. We have the power—not the prejudiced, not the assassin—to make things right."
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