http://www.masnet.org/views.asp?id=5002

By Ibrahim Abdil-Mu'id Ramey

MAS Freedom Civil and Human Rights Director

Ibrahim Abdil-Mu'id Ramey WASHINGTON, D.C. (MASNET) April 4,

2008 - In a digital world that changes every millisecond, 40-years is a very

long time. But an event that changed the course of a nation-in fact, the

world-is worth remembering, even if it is regarded by many as 'ancient'

history.

That event, of course, is the assassination of the Rev. Dr.

Martin Luther King, Jr., which occurred, now 40-years ago, in Memphis, Tennessee

on April 4, 1968. The popular memory of the significance of the non-violent

movement for civil rights in the United States has dimmed over the

years, but the anniversary of the Dr. King's assassination, like the

commemoration of his January birthday, is a major time for national reflection

and nostalgia.

But is this time of reflection also a time for renewed

action? Should we be assessing where this nation has moved, since 1968, in the

struggle for equality?

We've had commemorations and speeches and government

commissions galore. We've created thousands of streets and avenues that bear

the name of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We've created parks, and

malls-monuments and parades, and even retail sales days on the commemoration of

Dr. King's birthday.

However, the nation is still lacking a genuine,

uncompromised commitment to both economic and political justice in America, not

only for the African-American community that formed the core of the Kingian

movement, but increasingly for Muslims, Latinos, and poor people of all

descriptions who have been written out of the script in the American dream that

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. so compellingly articulated in his life and work.

I'm sure that Dr. King, were he still alive, would celebrate

the candidacy of Barack Obama as an indication of real change in the racial

status quo. But I am equally certain that he would be appalled about all of the

following:

• Dr. King would

be enraged that Dr. Sami Al-Arian, a respected teacher and leader, is on the

33rd day of a hunger strike in a

North Carolina

prison. Dr. Al-Arian, like Dr. King, has a dream of an America that

does not prosecute and convict men and women who are innocent of criminal

charges. Dr. King would be appalled at the status of the U.S. war in Iraq,

which has killed 4,000 U.S.

military personnel and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, while costing hundreds

of billions in U.S.

citizen tax dollars. He would make common cause with the political prisoners in

Guantanamo, and the thousands more in the world

in places like Egypt.

Dr. King would be in solidarity with Spanish-speaking immigrants-both

documented and undocumented-who are confronted with xenophobic town resolutions

and an organized attempt to criminalize and even dehumanize their very

existence in America-despite their indispensable contribution to the economic

bedrock of the nation.

The questions and issues of "civil rights" have

changed dramatically from the binary black-white paradigm of Dr. King's time.

The demographic face of the United

States has changed, too. But the forces of

racism, economic injustice, and militarism-the "evil triplets" that

Dr. King spoke of in his speech at Riverside Church on April 4, 1967-are still

deeply institutionalized in the fabric of the country.

Muslims, like others, are stakeholders in the vision that

Dr. King gave his life for. That is a vision of an America that is just, equal, and

committed to human rights and human equality. But the reality on April 4, 2008,

is that we live in a nation that tortures some of its prisoners, and gives

material support for others who commit these crimes in other countries.

The dramatic events of the recent mortgage melt-down were a

wake-up call about the economic perils confronting more and more poor and

working-class people in the country. And they should also say to us that the

work of Dr. King's movement is largely unfinished.

We don't need more monuments, or empty rhetoric about

dreams. What we need-and what our community must be prepared to struggle and

sacrifice for-is a genuine movement for human rights, peace, and the economic

change required to wage-and win-a real struggle for justice.

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To read additional articles written by Mr. Ramey, please

visit his blog, Ibrahim Abdil-Mu'id Ramey - Voice of Reason.

http://iamramey.blogspot.com/