MLK IN THE MARCH ON WASHINGTON FOR JOBS AND FREEDOM, IN WASHINGTON, D.C. ON WEDNESDAY, AUG. 28, 1963. THE PURPOSE OF THE MARCH WAS TO ADVOCATE FOR THE CIVIL AND ECONOMIC RIGHTS OF AFRICAN AMERICANS. PHOTO BY HISTORY IN HD ON UNSPLASH
Below are some of his statements about five of the seven themes.
LIFE AND DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
According to the USCCB, “The Catholic Church proclaims that human life is sacred and that the dignity of the human person is the foundation of a moral vision for society.”
Dr. King, likewise, set the dignity of the human person as the foundation of his work and teaching. In his 1967 book “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community,” Dr. King declared: “The image of God is universally shared in equal portions by all men. There is no graded scale of essential worth. Every human being has etched in his personality the indelible stamp of the Creator. Every man must be respected because God loves him. The worth of an individual does not lie in the measure of his intellect, his racial origin or his social position. Human worth lies in relatedness to God. An individual has value because he has value to God. Whenever this is recognized, ‘whiteness’ and ‘blackness’ pass away as determinants in a relationship and ‘son’ and ‘brother’ are substituted.”
CALL TO FAMILY, COMMUNITY AND PARTICIPATION
The bishops say, “The person is not only sacred but also social.” They call marriage and the family “the central social institutions,” and they add that how we organize our society through politics, economics, law, and policy affects every human’s dignity.
From the moment Dr. King and his colleagues began working to integrate lunch counters, they were addressing the ways we organize society. They understood that laws, policies, politics, and economic practices needed to change so that African Americans could be treated with dignity. At the same time, Dr. King saw the family as crucial. In “Where Do We Go from Here,” for example, he talks about the need to strengthen Black families who struggle under a history of housing and job discrimination, as well as underfunded schools and high levels of incarceration.
He wrote, “This is doubly tragic, because nothing is so much needed as a secure family life for a people seeking to rise out of poverty and backwardness. History continues to mock the Negro today, because just as he needs ever greater family integrity, severe strains are assailing family life in the white community.”