Dr. Martin Luther King then, President Donald J. Trump now fighting to free the oppressed

If anyone is interested in the stories of two men who struggled to make dramatic social changes look no further than Dr. Martin Luther King and President Donald J. Trump.

This came to my mind after re-reading Dr. King’s Letter From Birmingham Jail.

Dr. King was arrested for violating segregation laws. His nemesis in Birmingham was Democrat Theophilus Eugene “Bull” Connor who was the President of the Alabama Public Service Commission. Conner controlled the police department and wanted to stop the Southern Christian Leadership Conference‘s Birmingham campaign of 1963.

Hence the arrest of Dr. King and his brief internment in the Birmingham, Alabama jail.

The letter was written to eight prominent Alabama pastors who, while agreeing that segregation was wrong, did not agree with Dr. King’s methods. Reading Dr. King’s letter several similarities appear that brought to mind what President Trump is facing today.

Dr. King wrote, “I think I should give the reason for my being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of ‘outsiders coming in.'” Dr. King was labeled an “outsider” by members of his own Southern Christian Leadership Conference, of which he was a past President. So too is Donald J. Trump by members of his own Republican party.

Dr. King wrote, “I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” So too was it that Donald J. Trump could not sit idly by in New York City while injustice was met out against the American people by Washington, D.C. politicians and bureaucrats.

As President Trump said during his inaugural address, “Today’s ceremony, however, has very special meaning. Because today we are not merely transferring power from one Administration to another, or from one party to another – but we are transferring power from Washington, D.C. and giving it back to you, the American People.”

Injustice anywhere is truly a threat to justice everywhere.

Dr. King wrote, ” IN ANY nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices are alive, negotiation, self-purification, and direct action.”

It very much appears that President Donald J. Trump uses the same sequence to deal with social injustice. The President’s speech on the humanitarian and national security crisis on America’s Southern border follows Dr. King’s steps. President Trump first collected the facts from his cabinet, then worked to negotiate a solution, and he has taken direct action. President Trump uses self purification in all that he does, from wanting to help DACA recipients to vowing to veto any bill that funds the killing of the unborn.

Dr. King in Birmingham focused on the economy and how blacks were shut out writing, “Then came the opportunity last September to talk with some of the leaders of the economic community. In these negotiating sessions certain promises were made by the merchants, such as the promise to remove the humiliating racial signs from the stores. On the basis of these promises, Reverend Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to call a moratorium on any type of demonstration. As the weeks and months unfolded, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise.”

President Trump has focused on the economy to provide equal opportunity for success and prosperity for all. For too long, President Trump understands, that blacks “were the victims of a broken promise.”

Finally, Dr. King directly attacked the Democratic leadership of Birmingham writing, ” One of the basic points in your statement is that our acts are untimely. Some have asked, ‘Why didn’t you give the new administration time to act?’ The only answer that I can give to this inquiry is that the new administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one before it acts. We will be sadly mistaken if we feel that the election of Mr. Boutwell will bring the millennium to Birmingham. While Mr. Boutwell is much more articulate and gentle than Mr. Conner, they are both segregationists, dedicated to the task of maintaining the status quo.”

Candidate and now President Trump understood the power of the “status quo.” Candidate Trump called those who defend the status quo as “the swamp.”

President Donald J. Trump understands, as he visited the Martin Luther King memorial, what Dr. King understood in 1963 that, ” We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

Dr. King and now President Trump are both dedicated to freeing the oppressed.

As President Trump said in his inaugural speech:

For too long, a small group in our nation’s Capital has reaped the rewards of government while the people have borne the cost.

Washington flourished – but the people did not share in its wealth.

Politicians prospered – but the jobs left, and the factories closed.

The establishment protected itself, but not the citizens of our country.

Their victories have not been your victories; their triumphs have not been your triumphs; and while they celebrated in our nation’s Capital, there was little to celebrate for struggling families all across our land.

That all changes – starting right here, and right now, because this moment is your moment: it belongs to you.

This is why “the oppressors” put Dr. King in the Birmingham jail. It is why the oppressors want to impeach President Donald J. Trump. Because Trump, like King, is fighting the oppressors.

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EDITOR NOTE: The featured photo is by Giulia Pugliese on Unsplash.