Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Family Responds To Upcoming Rally

A rally held by a conservative television personality scheduled on the anniversary and at the location of the civil rights pioneer Martin Luther King Jr.’s iconic “I Have a Dream Speech” address has prompted two dissimilar responses from the family of the slain leader.

The Restoring Honor Rally, hosted by Fox News pundit Glenn Beck and taking place on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial Saturday, will feature remarks from Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece Alveda King.

Alveda King, a conservative affiliated with the organization Priests for Life, said in a statement that she is attending the rally for nonpartisan reasons.

“I am participating in Glenn Beck’s Restoring Honor Rally not to advance any political agenda, but to advance the concept of honor in our nation,” Alveda King stated.

Martin Luther King III, the son of King, Jr., wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post Wednesday responding to Beck’s demonstration. While noting that King, Jr. would support Beck’s right to hold the rally, King III appeared to suggest his father’s values be at odds with the ideology expressed by Beck on his television program.

“[Martin Luther King, Jr.] did … wholeheartedly embrace the ‘social gospel,’” King III wrote. “I pray that all Americans will embrace the challenge of social justice and the unifying spirit that my father shared with his compatriots.”

On a March episode of Beck’s program the host equated the modern interpretation of social justice with fascism and communism.

“They both subscribed to one philosophy … social justice,” Beck said. “They talked about economic justice, rights of the workers, redistribution of wealth and surprisingly democracy.”