This week, we celebrated the life and work of Martin Luther King Jr., the most well-known and important leader of the American civil rights movement. King sought to use the power of nonviolent protest and his unparalleled oratorical skills to promote social and political equality for all Americans, regardless of race, color or economic status.
King’s activism and oratory, most famously displayed during the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, helped ensure the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. These two pieces of legislation were essential in the fight against racial segregation, discrimination and disenfranchisement.
King’s legacy extends beyond his role in the struggle for racial equality. He also began the Poor People’s Campaign, which was an effort to improve the economic status of impoverished and working Americans of all races.
America has made great strides in the area of racial freedom and equality over the past five decades, most dramatically manifested in the election and re-election of the nation’s first black president. However, the economic aspect of King’s message has largely been forgotten and ignored, even as the ranks of the poor and underprivileged continue to swell.
The problems facing America’s middle and working classes are vast in size and scope. Although the official unemployment rate has fallen to 6.7 percent, much of that decline has resulted from millions simply giving up on looking for work. The federal minimum wage of $7.25 is barely enough to keep many out of poverty. The gap between rich and poor in the U.S. is wider than in any other country in the developed world. Since 2009, 95 percent of all income gains have gone to the top 1 percent of earners, while middle- and working-class incomes have stagnated or even declined.
King’s dream of a nation free of racial discrimination has not yet been realized.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, police brutality and harassment on the basis of race has increased in recent years. In one study, 25 percent of police officers said that they had witnessed fellow officers unfairly harassing citizens “most likely because of his/her race.”
Restrictive voting laws are roadblocks in the path toward racial equality. According to a study, provisions such as those reducing early voting hours and creating stringent ID requirements in order to vote could have a disproportionate effect on racial minorities.
The Supreme Court ruling in Shelby County v. Holder, which overturned a critical section of the Voting Rights Act, only compounds the problem of political inequity for minorities. Although Congress is currently working on an amendment to the Voting Rights Act that would restore many of the protections stripped away by the court, that legislation’s future is uncertain.
When King was assassinated in 1968, he was helping Memphis sanitation workers organize for better pay and working conditions as part of the Poor People’s Campaign. Today, middle- and working-class Americans face many of the same challenges they did.
There is little doubt King would be speaking out on their behalf were he alive today.
Elliot Levy is a UF political science and public relations junior. His column appears on Wednesdays. A version of this column ran on page 7 on 1/22/2014 under the headline "Too little civil rights progress"
