"I BELIEVE THE SYMBOLISM":

The Odd Couple (KIRON K. SKINNER, 1/19/04, NY Times)

As a result of the Goldwater endorsement, Mr. Reagan, who two years earlier had been a registered Democrat, was soon seen by many as being on the opposite side of everything the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was fighting for at the time. Yet two decades later, in November 1983, President Reagan signed a bill establishing a national holiday in honor of Dr. King.

How do we understand this twist of history? [...]

[W]hen one looks closely at each man's writings, it's clear that they shared an unswerving commitment to democracy, liberty and equality. Having spent years studying and archiving the former president's letters and speeches, I have concluded that he overcame his reservations about the King bill by tapping into his personal experiences — and coming away with an understanding of the ways in which racism and bigotry violate the basic American values he and Dr. King worked to make real.

In his private writings, Ronald Reagan has always maintained that his earliest encounters and views on race were shaped by his parents' quiet activism. Mr. Reagan has told the story of how, one bitterly cold night, his father slept in his car to protest a hotel's policy of not admitting Jews. The president's father also refused to allow his sons to see the movie "Birth of a Nation," on the ground that it glorified the Ku Klux Klan.

Mr. Reagan has said that his first personal experience with racism against blacks occurred while he was on the football team at Eureka College. He and his teammates were traveling by bus in Illinois near his hometown, and stopped at a hotel for lodging. When the hotel manager refused to accommodate his black teammates, Mr. Reagan offered to take them to his home for the night. His parents warmly welcomed their son's friends.

On another occasion, Ronald Reagan saw Franklin Burghardt, one of his black teammates, physically attacked during a game by a player from the opposing team. Mr. Burghardt earned Ronald Reagan's admiration by responding to the attack with firm but fair play. [...]

Perhaps it was President Reagan's final statement about Dr. King at his October 1983 press conference that best helps explain why he signed the bill. "I believe the symbolism of that day," the president said. In the president's mind, the values Dr. King championed trumped political differences.

If we can honor white guys who owned slaves, we can certainly honor a black guy who was a communist dupe. Men are of their times, but, if great, change those times, as did Dr. King. Best just to ignore everything he said after 1963.

MORE:
-SPEECH: I Have a Dream ((Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C., August 28, 1963)

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 19, 2004 8:14 AM