Yesterday was the holiday marking the life and accomplishments of Martin Luther King, Jr. I consider Dr. King to be an American hero, and to honor his holiday I posted several of his quotes on this blog. But today I wanted to say something else -- he did not accomplish his goals alone.
Too often today, we seem to give Dr, King all the credit for civil rights progress in the United States. But even he would have been quick to remind us that he was just one of many who made and won that fight. Dr. King was a great leader, but leaders must have help or they accomplish nothing.
We must never forget that many thousands of other Americans put their safety and freedom in jeopardy to fight the battle for equal rights in this country -- and many gave their lives in that struggle. A lot of these heroes did their work long before Dr. King was born, and more still continue the struggle (knowing that we are not yet where we need to be on equal rights in America).
It is right that we honor the leadership of Dr. King in the civil rights struggle, but we must not do it at the cost of forgetting the sacrifices of all those other heroes. Each one of them played an important part.
