Clyburn Honors the Memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Thursday, April 3, 2008
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WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn today spoke at a congressional ceremony in the US Capitol to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Friday marks 40 years since the assassination of Dr. King. Following are his remarks.
“I first met Martin Luther King Jr on the afternoon of October 14, 1960. It was the same day that I met the Honorable John Lewis. On that evening we all gathered in a room in one of the buildings at Morehouse College and we sat up with Dr. King until around 4:00 AM the next morning. When I left that meeting and finally retired to bed on that morning, I had internalized the philosophy of non-violence as a tactic for social change.
“I often think about my many interactions with him. One is memorialized in a picture that hangs on the wall of my office on the third floor in this building. It’s a picture of Dr. King’s last visit to South Carolina before his untimely death. Every time I look at that picture, I think of how prepared he was for his eventuality.
“I often think, when I look at that picture, of his ‘Letter from a Birmingham City Jail.’ A letter in response to a letter that he received from eight clergymen counseling him that although they thought his purpose was right, his timing was wrong. King’s response to them said, “Time is neutral. Time is never right and it’s never wrong. Time is always what we make it. And then he went on to say he thought that the people of ill will in our society make a much better use of time than the people of good will. And then he concluded this particular thought with these words, ‘We are going to be made to repent in this generation not just for the vitriolic words and deeds of bad people, but for the appalling silence of good people.’ I would hope that as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of his death we will not be silent in the face of injustices and inequities.”
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