King's son urges Edwards to press on
Posted: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 10:01 AM by Domenico Montanaro
From NBC/NJ's Tricia Miller
Just before the debate on Martin Luther King Day, Edwards' campaign released a letter of encouragement that he received from none other than Martin Luther King III, the son of Martin Luther King Jr.
The letter followed Edwards' private meeting with King in Atlanta on Saturday. King applauded Edwards' focus on poverty and urged him to press on in the presidential race.
"I appreciate that on the major issues of health care, the environment, and the economy, you have framed the issues for what they are -- a struggle for justice,” he wrote. “And, you have almost single-handedly made poverty an issue in this election.”
Edwards and King first met a year ago when King introduced Edwards when he spoke at Riverside Church in Manhattan. There Edwards stood in the same place King's father had forty years earlier and applied his words on the Vietnam War to the Iraq War, telling an audience that silence is still betrayal (a message he repeated on the steps of the South Carolina capitol yesterday). King concluded his letter by telling Edwards to press on.
"Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice,” King wrote. “My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a believer in my father's words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going."
Full text of the letter is below:
January 20, 2008
The Honorable John E. Edwards
410 Market Street
Suite 400
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
Dear Senator Edwards:
It was good meeting with you yesterday and discussing my father's legacy. On the day when the nation will honor my father, I wanted to follow up with a personal note.
There has been, and will continue to be, a lot of back and forth in the political arena over my father's legacy. It is a commentary on the breadth and depth of his impact that so many people want to claim his legacy. I am concerned that we do not blur the lines and obscure the truth about what he stood for: speaking up for justice for those who have no voice.
I appreciate that on the major issues of health care, the environment, and the economy, you have framed the issues for what they are - a struggle for justice. And, you have almost single-handedly made poverty an issue in this election.
You know as well as anyone that the 37 million people living in poverty have no voice in our system. They don't have lobbyists in Washington and they don't get to go to lunch with members of Congress. Speaking up for them is not politically convenient. But, it is the right thing to do.
I am disturbed by how little attention the topic of economic justice has received during this campaign. I want to challenge all candidates to follow your lead, and speak up loudly and forcefully on the issue of economic justice in America.
From our conversation yesterday, I know this is personal for you. I know you know what it means to come from nothing. I know you know what it means to get the opportunities you need to build a better life. And, I know you know that injustice is alive and well in America, because millions of people will never get the same opportunities you had.
I believe that now, more than ever, we need a leader who wakes up every morning with the knowledge of that injustice in the forefront of their minds, and who knows that when we commit ourselves to a cause as a nation, we can make major strides in our own lifetimes. My father was not driven by an illusory vision of a perfect society. He was driven by the certain knowledge that when people of good faith and strong principles commit to making things better, we can change hearts, we can change minds, and we can change lives.
So, I urge you: keep going. Ignore the pundits, who think this is a horserace, not a fight for justice. My dad was a fighter. As a friend and a believer in my father's words that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, I say to you: keep going. Keep fighting. My father would be proud.
Sincerely,
Martin L. King, III
