I vaguely recall the audacity it took in my eleventh year of life to ask my teacher what, exactly, made Martin Luther King, Jr., worthy of a holiday. And while I can look back with shame at my ignorance, I can also offer the admittedly insufficient defense of situational factors. I was indeed born nearly 20 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became the law of the land, and I was growing up in a predominantly white suburban community, where the largest minority was Indian. My school was diligent about recognizing Black History Month, though the celebration in most classrooms extended mostly to bulletin boards. Fourth grade was a bit different for me, in that I had, for the first time, been assigned one of the school's handful of African-American teachers. Almost everything about me set her off, and I think that question sealed the deal for my exclusion from the prestigious Safety Patrol.
Thankfully, in the subsequent years I have done a bit more research and I have come to realize why Dr. King was so great. He was, as most will attest, a brilliant orator. But he also brandished an incredible theology, one which challenges the white, middle-class, All-American theology that makes me comfortable. He had the courage to appeal to Calvin's principle of General Revelation in seeking out the wisdom of non-Christian Mohandas Ghandi. He preached non-violence in the face of brutality, he cried for justice when justice was not offered as an option. Dr. King was a prophet. That is why he was so great.
The Speech from the Lincoln Memorial
