WASHINGTON —
When President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in as president of the United States inside the Capitol’s rotunda, he will do so facing a bust of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. on the federal holiday commemorating King’s legacy.
It’s a disquieting contrast for some civil rights advocates who wish to fulfill the late reverend’s dream of non-violent social revolution.
Events honoring King and advocating for his vision of a just society will occur across the nation as many in the U.S. observe the peaceful transfer of power in the capital. The concurrent events have been met with mixed feelings by civil rights leaders, who broadly reviled Trump’s rhetoric and stances on race and civil rights during his third presidential campaign.
But many leaders, including King’s own family, see the juxtaposition as a poignant contrast and a chance to refocus the work of advancing civil rights in a new political era.
“I’m glad it occurred on that day because it gives the United States of America and the world the contrast in pictures. Is this the way you want to go — or is this the way you want to go?” said the Rev. Bernice King, the late King’s youngest daughter and CEO of the King Center.
“It’s not a day that he can be the star, which he loves to be,” King’s daughter said of Trump. “He has to contend with that legacy on that day, regardless of how he manages it and handles it in his presentation. I hope those around him are advising him well to honor the day appropriately in his speech.”
This is the third time in the nearly 40 years since the federal King holiday became law that it coincides with a presidential inauguration. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama also were sworn in for their second terms on the holiday. Both praised King in their remarks; it is yet to be seen if and how Trump — who falsely claimed his first inauguration had larger crowds than King’s March on Washington — will acknowledge the day.
“Will he sound a message of unity and a presidency for all, or will he continue to focus on his base and some of the divisive policies he’s championed, like an anti-DEI stance, rounding up immigrants and cutting important parts of the social safety net through this DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) process?” asked Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League civil rights group.
Morial added that Trump’s inauguration landing on MLK Day represented “a contradiction of values.”
Many civil rights leaders will spend the day commemorating King’s legacy after a week of public and private organizing, giving speeches and strategizing how to respond to the incoming administration’s agenda.
“It’s the best of times and the worst of times,” said Derrick Johnson, president of the NAACP, an organization whose members mentored, collaborated and clashed with King throughout the Civil Rights Movement.
“Our mission doesn’t change. Our job is to make democracy work for all, to make sure that equal protection is ensured under the law,” Johnson said. He added that the group “doesn’t want to assume” the Trump administration can’t be a partner on advancing civil rights or racial justice.
On Wednesday, Johnson and other civil rights leaders met with Congressional Black Caucus members on Capitol Hill to discuss how to work with and to oppose the Trump administration. That same day, the National Action Network, a civil rights group founded by the Rev. Al Sharpton, hosted a breakfast at which Vice President Kamala Harris urged attendees to stay motivated.
“Ours is a journey,” she said. “Whatever the outcome of any particular moment, we can never be defeated. Our spirit can never be defeated, because when that happens, we won’t win.”
Martin Luther King III, the late King’s eldest son, prayed with Harris on stage. King had campaigned for Harris in the fall and called her an advocate who “speaks to our better angels” and “embodies Dr. King’s legacy.”
Many racial justice advocates are set to organize demonstrations, vigils and community service events to mark the holiday and prepare for what they consider an adversarial administration.
Some groups are reflecting on parallels and differences with how King organized in the face of explicitly white supremacist state and local governments and geopolitical tumult.
“The hostility is similar, particularly in that there is a mobilized, active and aggressive extremist-right hell bent on unraveling rights and any sense of shared purpose, shared problems or shared solutions,” said Maya Wiley, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. What differs, Wiley said, is the understanding “there has to be opportunity for everyone.”
King himself worried the legal protections he dedicated his life to realizing would not be followed by greater anti-discrimination efforts or social programs. He proposed it would take white Americans embracing a deeper kinship with Black Americans and engaging in economic and social solidarity to see change.
A year before his 1968 assassination, King wrote in his final book that giving a Black person their “due” often required “special treatment.”
“I am aware of the fact that this has been a troublesome concept for many liberals, since it conflicts with their traditional ideal of equal opportunity and equal treatment of people according to their individual merits,” King wrote in the 1967 book, “Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community.” “But this is a day which demands new thinking and the reevaluation of old concepts.”
King’s advocacy for “new concepts” found an heir in the enactment of affirmative action policies in workplaces and schools. Many advocates of diversity, equity and inclusion policies see such programs as realizing his vision, though that argument has come under withering scrutiny from conservative activists.
Trump’s views on race have been criticized for decades. The federal government sued Trump for allegedly discriminating against Black apartment seekers in the 1970s. He was instrumental in promoting the “birther” conspiracy theory that Obama was not born in the U.S. And his campaign rhetoric about immigrants and urban communities since 2015 up to November’s election has been derided as prejudiced.
As president, Trump enacted some criminal justice reform laws that civil rights advocates praised but then proposed harsh crackdowns on 2020 racial reckoning protests.
In April, Trump did not dispute the notion that “anti-white racism” now represents a greater problem in the U.S. than systemic racism against Black Americans.
“I think there is a definite anti-white feeling in this country and that can’t be allowed either,” Trump said during an interview with Time magazine.
Janiyah Thomas, a spokesperson for the Trump transition, said Trump’s inauguration would be “monumental, turning a new leaf and ushering in the golden age of America” and said Americans should remember “wise words” from King: “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
At the end of his life, King reflected on the early backlash to civil rights, especially with integrated housing developments, interracial marriage and necessary economic and social programs. He expressed frustration with then-President Lyndon B. Johnson for prolonging the Vietnam War rather than making a greater investment in anti-poverty efforts.
“This is where the civil rights movement stands today. We will err and falter as we climb the unfamiliar slopes of steep mountains, but there is no alternative, well-trod, level path,” King wrote. “There will be agonizing setbacks along with creative advances. Our consolation is that no one can know the true taste of victory if he has never swallowed defeat.”
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