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February 01, 2006

Coretta Scott King

Coretta Scott King died yesterday at the age of 78, 38 years after her husband was murdered in a Tennessee hotel. It would have been supremely easy for Mrs. King to have spent the rest of her life raising her children and going on with her life. Instead, she adopted her husband's cause as her own and worked for the rest of her life to publicize his work, ensuring that his cause was her own. While there is little possibility America would have forgotten Martin Luther King Jr.'s contributions to forcing the cause of civil rights forward as few people in American history have before or since, Mrs. King's efforts helped to keep that cause in civic discourse, and her efforts were instrumental in making Dr. King's birthday a national holiday.

There is an element of irony in Mrs. King dying the day before Black History Month begins. I have inflamed tempers in the past by arguing that Black History Month is the improper solution to highlighting the contributions of black Americans to American history, and I will not revisit that here. I will note, however, that it would be unfortunate if Mrs. King were relegated to the pages of black history rather than taking her place as an historical figure for America. Crispus Attucks, Harriet Tubman, Sojourner Truth, Frederick Douglass, George Washington Carver, Ralph Abernathy, Martin Luther King Jr. and many others are logically excellent role models for black Americans because they happen to share the same skin color. But they are no less valid role models for Americans of any color, because their contributions to America helped make this country what it is today. I do not question the importance of highlighting these contributions as a means to fight back against the prejudices that still exist today and to inspire young blacks to great accomplishments of their own. But it is important to remember that what they accomplished was important regardless of the color of their skin. So it is with Mrs. King. Her life should be an inspiration for all Americans.