Why Bernice King sees MLK Day as a ‘saving grace’ in today’s political climate

In a time of deepening political division, the Rev. Bernice King describes the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday as a “somewhat of a saving grace” that offers a moral compass amid the nation’s turbulent climate.

“With everything going on, the one thing that I think Dr. King reminds people of is hope and the ability to challenge injustice and inhumanity,” King told The Associated Press in a recent interview.

The holiday arrives as President Donald Trump prepares to mark his first anniversary of his second term in office. According to Bernice King, CEO of the King Center in Atlanta, the “three evils” her father identified in 1967 – poverty, racism, and militarism – are “very present and manifesting through a lot of what’s happening” under Trump’s leadership.

King pointed to several administration policies that concern her, including efforts to roll back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across the country, directives to remove key historical information from government websites, instructions to eliminate “improper ideology” from Smithsonian museums, and immigration enforcement operations that have resulted in family separations and violence.

White House spokesperson Davis Ingle defended the administration’s actions, stating, “Everything President Trump does is in the best interest of the American people. That includes rolling back harmful DEI agendas, deporting dangerous criminal illegal aliens from American communities, or ensuring we are being honest about our country’s great history.”

The administration’s approach to civil rights has alarmed advocacy groups. Maya Wiley, president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, one of the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights coalitions, warned that King’s words “ring more true today.”

“We’re at a period in our history where we literally have a regime actively working to erase the Civil Rights movement,” Wiley said. “This has been an administration dismantling intentionally and with ideological fervor every advancement we have made since the Civil War.”

Wiley also referenced King’s warnings that international conflicts undermine global community building and divert resources from domestic needs. The Trump administration has recently engaged in military strikes against alleged drug-smuggling vessels and carried out a surprise raid that captured Venezuela’s president earlier this month.

When asked what her father might think of America today, nearly six decades after his assassination, Bernice King acknowledged the challenge of such speculation. “He’s not here. It’s a different world,” she said. “But what I can say is his teachings transcend time and he taught us, I think, the way to address injustice through his nonviolent philosophy and methodology.”

King emphasized that nonviolence should be practiced not only by protesters but also by immigration agents and other law enforcement officers. She noted that the King Center had previously developed a curriculum for law enforcement that it plans to update to help officers perform their duties while respecting human dignity.

Despite the current political climate, King remains optimistic, noting that “we have made so much progress as a nation.” The civil rights movement her parents helped lead brought more compassionate voices into mainstream politics. Even with efforts to eliminate diversity initiatives and deport immigrants, King observed, “the inevitability is we’re so far into our diversity you can’t put that back in a box.”

To honor her father’s legacy this year, King urged Americans to engage in self-reflection rather than merely criticizing others. “I think we spend a lot of time looking at everybody else and what everybody else is not doing or doing… and we don’t spend a lot of time on ourselves personally,” she said.

While King endorsed participation in service projects to observe the holiday, citing their ability to foster connections and sensitize people to others’ struggles, she emphasized that people should also consider how they can advance her father’s teachings throughout the year ahead.

“I think we have the opportunity to use this as a measuring point from year to year in terms of what we’re doing to move our society in a more just, humane, equitable and peaceful way,” she concluded.