On the eve of the national holiday set aside to celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., the shadow of ongoing national discord over the treatment of blacks by police is heavy. The shadow touches all Americans, and it affords us a unique opportunity to confront afresh our failures. We have come far as a society, but we have not achieved the level of unity to which King aspired and toward which his legacy continues to lead the nation.
King’s words and supplications remain so relevant because they apply to all Americans.
“Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable,” he said. “Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”
During recent local gatherings to commemorate King’s own passionate concern, many dedicated individuals in positions of leadership have shared their visions for confronting our collective failures. None have done so more eloquently than Greenville’s interim police chief, Ted Sauls, who was among speakers at Thursday’s interfaith ceremony hosted by Churches Outreach Network at Sycamore Chapel Missionary Baptist Church.
The theme for the ceremony was peace. Sauls began his remarks with an apology.
“I apologize on behalf of every man or woman in law enforcement for anything that may have been done wrong, for anything you may see as not equal, for anything you may see as wrong in your eyes for whatever reason,” Sauls said.
The grandson of a Baptist minister, Sauls emphasized the values he was raised with — which are the values King encouraged all Americans to live by.
“Peace in our efforts is the most obvious gift they gave us,” he said. “They told us we are supposed to come together as a people, in support of one another with a hand up, not a handout, to tell each other with affection and love in our hearts when someone does something wrong.”
Greenville and Pitt County may not be experiencing the level of racial unrest happening in Ferguson, Mo., New York and other areas, but Sauls is right that the ripple effect from those events resonates here. Today’s struggle for peace and unity intensifies our need to hear King’s words and accept the challenge they present to all Americans:
“…Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”
And this: “The time is always right to do what is right.”
