“The effort to educate students is about overcoming limitations that dwell in the heart of every human being,” King said. “We need to do some soul-searching about the importance of providing quality education for all people, regardless of race, social class or disabilities.”
King, 49, is a human rights advocate and community activist who lives in Georgia. He spoke at an international conference of the Council for Exceptional Children at the Salt Palace, comparing the current fight for excellence and equality in education to the civil rights movement led by his father in the 1950s and '60s.
The message echoed his father's belief in nonviolent activism, but broadened Martin Luther King Jr.'s focus on racial equality to include people of all ethnicities who live in poverty, and people with disabilities.
The theme of King's message was familiar - that war and violence are not the “right direction.” Quoting his father, he said, “Wars are poor chisels for carving out our peaceful tomorrows.”
His audience, mainly special-education teachers, applauded as he gave his recipe for appropriate government spending:
“We have to train more teachers, and ensure smaller classes. We have to build more schools and outfit them with better facilities and equipment. We have to provide more assistance to needy students, and more accountability to make sure they receive the help that is allocated.”
King noted that Tuesday was the 38th anniversary of his father's assassination - and the first time he had marked that date in the absence of his mother. Coretta Scott King died of cancer in January.
After the speech was over, King told The Salt Lake Tribune that it was his mother's teaching that gives him confidence to carry on in the shadow of his illustrious father.
“I don't have any illusions that I'm like my father,” he said. “I don't have his incredible vocabulary, his melodiousness. That was an unusual gift - from God. If I tried to be like him, I would fail miserably.”
“My mother instilled in me a value - that I didn't have to be just like him,” King continued. “I wake up every day knowing I'll be the best Martin I can be.”
