Comments

I only wish more of the people who were asked to pay public tribute to Mrs. King at her funeral had actually done so rather than use it as an avenue to push their personal political and social agendas.

Posted by Mike at February 10, 2006 9:56 AM

...as you're doing now, Mike?

Posted by Geoffrey at February 10, 2006 10:06 AM

Geoff - agree with Mike especially the Jimmie Carter comments on Kennedy era wiretapping - Bill Clinton as example of appropriate respectful comments.

Posted by Sean at February 10, 2006 11:52 AM

I'm not sure I see the political overtones of Mike's remarks either.

I looked at this picture this morning and just came back again. Mrs. King....Rosa Parks....maybe Tom's "women rule" rant refers to something that's not new at all. Or maybe it's because of these women and others like them that women really DO rule.

Posted by Ed Di Gangi at February 10, 2006 2:54 PM

It nearly amazes me that people don't get it. Lowery, Carter and others honored Mrs. King's memory by doing exactly what she and her husband did for years: speaking truth to power. That was the very essence of their work.

I guess Lowery and the people who gave him a standing ovation should have "known their place", especially when the bossman was in the house.

Posted by Terrance at February 10, 2006 3:46 PM

I understand the greatness and influence of Martin Luther King, Jr. But not trying to sound insensitive and meaning no disrespect to the deceased, what, exactly did Coretta Scott King do to warrant a State funeral attended by four presidents? Seems to me she was just a famous man's widow...and that her memorial served as the funeral her husband would've received--and would've deserved--had he not been assassinated in 1968.

Posted by Chuck at February 10, 2006 5:41 PM

I think it's so sad that the funeral was made into a political event.

Regardless of your political leaning, the woman's memorial SHOULD NOT be turned into a political event. Regardlesss of her life (even though it was a political life) remember her as a person, not a political figure.

Life is too short to let political issues separate us to the point to not let a person rest in peace.

And I'm a conservative.

Posted by Kevin Behringer at February 10, 2006 8:40 PM

Three "great movements" have taken place in my lifetime. During WWII, FDR, George Marshall, Harry Truman and Ike led the American part of crushing the greatest tyranny the world has ever known. Numerous Presidents, notably JFK, Nixon and Reagan, kept the lid on the Cold War, and then ended it. The third great act was the Civil Rights movement, the intense effort to deal with lingering post-Civil War inequity in our beloved USA. MLK, Ralph Abernathy and others were the firebrands, but to me Mrs King was as much the spirit of the continuing revolution as her husband, dead at 39, was of the angry late 50s and 60s. I met her once, and she projected a serinity and strength, the likes of which I don't think I've experienced since. Her official role in the movement is not on an org chart anywhere, but neither was her husband's. Looking back on the 63 out of 230 years of U.S. history I've lived through, the enormity of the Civil Rights movement is as clear as day. And Mrs King symbolizes that epoch, which lingers to this day, as much as any other human being.

I guess I come at this discussion-debate from the other direction: I can't imagine any of the healthy former Presidents not being at the funeral. But really all I can do is respond personally. The movement was central to the nation's life coincident to my lifespan, and Mrs King was a central and towering and enduring figure. Her spirit was as important, and over a longer time period, than MLKs. I can't conceivably imagine the ex-Presidents not going to the funeral, and I can't conceivably imagine me having passed up the opportunity while in Atlanta to pay my own, most humble respects.

As to the political part, I again can offer no more than a simple and merely personal opinion. Rev King was as political as they come. So, too, his wife. So, too, the movememt with which they are associated. Why not politics at the funeral? If the 6-hour event had followed a perfect script like so many political events do these days---think about the now virtually meaningless presidential conventions--that would have been a shame. And if some of the remarks irritated President Bush, so be it. I think we treat all of our Presidents, regardless of party, with far too much reverence--there can be no doubt whatsoever that the Founders would be nothing short of appalled. The Father of our country, G Washington, was pilloried on numerous occasions during his presidency; I think it's only in the last 50, 60, or 75 years that we have begun to attribute heavenly powers to our Supreme Ruler. Are the President's responsibilities unthinkably enormous? Sure, but so, to put it mildly, were those, say, of our first three Presidents, Washington, Adams and Jefferson. (In reference to Mr Carter, agree with him or not, I personally think presidents roughing up other presidents is great and necessary sport.)

NB: By the way, if you are looking for an appalling footnote to all this, you need go no farther than the outrageous contempt with which then-GA Governor Lester Maddox treated Rev King and his family following MLK's assination. That the Presidents and ten or fifteen thousand others showed up for Mrs King's sendoff perhaps rights the scales a little bit.

Posted by tom peters at February 10, 2006 11:16 PM

Tom, I don't mean to be dense and I'm not trying to be argumentative. But it seems to me we memorialize people for their specific accomplishments (isn't that the at the center of your exhortations..."doing something"). I know what MLK did. I know what Rosa Parks did. I know what Pope John Paul II did. While I recognize that Mrs. King symbolized her husband's legacy, I'm unfamiliar with anything concrete she personally accomplished. I doubt that Martha Washington or Mary Todd Lincoln were memorialized as Mrs. King was, even though they both survived famously symbolic men. MLK deserved this type of send-off; just unsure why his wife did.

Posted by Chuck at February 11, 2006 12:14 AM

My wife and I visited the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church when we were stationed in Montgomery, Alabama. Martin Luther King was the pastor there in 1954. Mrs. King was there for a commemoration and you could almost read the history on her face. Her presence alone was very impacting in the humble basement church.

Chuck, we often pay tribute to the families of our leaders. The Air Force consistently recognized the importance of a spouse's role in sacrificing their partners to serve the nation. Whenever I accepted an award during my military career, the first person I mentioned was my wife. Mrs. King was instrumental, both as a support to her husband and as a torch for his message. She is very deserving of special recognition on her passing. Too often, we fail to understand the importance of the support that families provide to those dedicating their lives to a cause. Their support is instrumental and it should certainly be recognized respectfully.

Posted by Tom O'Leary at February 11, 2006 5:49 AM

It's not about whose political views we agree with or disagree with. It's about what is and is not appropriate at a funeral. I listened to most of the speeches on my car radio and my Midwestern Methodist farm-boy sensibilities were soundly offended. I don't care if Jimmy Carter and Mr. Lowery want to take shots at President Bush, nor do I hold the president up to any kind of super-human standard. If you can't take it, stay out of politics. But what's right is right and, in my opinion, it was wrong to use this occasion as a political pulpit.

And Geoffrey, I am not pushing any of my own political views. My personal politics are all over the map and smack much more of Libertarianism than conservative Republicanism.

Posted by Mike at February 11, 2006 8:35 AM

Tom, from the BBC website: 'Prince Charles has paid tribute to Scotland's oldest man and the country's longest surviving veteran of World War I, who has died at the age of 109. Alfred Anderson, who served with the 5th Battalion the Black Watch, died in a nursing home in Angus.

Born in 1896, he was in one of the first British contingents to serve on the Western Front.

Prince Charles, who knew the veteran, said: "I was very deeply saddened to hear that Alfred Anderson had died." '

The UK government plans a state funeral for the last WWI veteran to die (there are a mere handful left). That man -whoever he is - did not play a big public role on the world stage, but what he did personally, and what he stands for - the unimaginable sacrifice made by so many in one of the most horrendous wars of all time - will amply justify such a public marking of respect and bidding farewell.

As to Mrs King - well clearly she deserves every accolade paid to her, again, for both her personal and symbolic contribution in another vital struggle.

Tom, thank you for making your personal pictures available - through the wonders of technology we can feel much closer to events far away than via official media images.

I passed by the Ebeneezer Baptist Church 9 years ago, en route from one high-end Atlanta experience to another, as part of a Fam. trip organised by the Convention Bureau there. For all the delights (Coke, CNN, Dinner with the Mayor etc), there were two highlights for me: 'Breakfast with Tom Peters' and that fleeting glimpse of the modest little church with the simple neon sign. Thank you for your contribution to both memories, Tom.

Posted by Stephen Spencer at February 11, 2006 10:50 AM

Politics "as usual" has changed in the past 20 years or so - supermedia ultramedia has it in our face 24/7 365/66 - and Presidents are most adept at political spin calculations - adept not successful many times though.

Carter has made a post-Pres failure career out of bashing USA leaders [incl Mr. Clinton] while trying to cater to "worldview" ... therefore his Kennedy era flashback is part of his perverse being. Happy full moon Valentines' Day!

Posted by Sean at February 11, 2006 11:21 AM

Thank you for the photo. I had wondered where at the King Center she was buried, but hadn't had a chance to look online.

For those who felt her funeral was too political, remember that it is important to sieze those opportunities where one can speak truth to power.

Posted by Jill Hurst-Wahl at February 12, 2006 7:49 PM

It’s a lose-lose situation: if you are a public figure and you go to pay your respects you’re a selfish manipulator; if you don’t go, you are heartless insensitive man.
It’s always so easy to criticize…

Posted by Francisco Fernández at February 13, 2006 4:26 AM