WASHINGTON—The darlings of the Tea Party set have rallied in Washington before. But never quite like they will Saturday, when Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin share top billing at a major conservative rally coinciding with the time and place of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legendary “I Had a Dream” speech of 1963.
The controversial gathering at the Lincoln Memorial, titled “Restoring Honour” and billed as an apolitical celebration of American military families, has incensed many civil rights leaders and ignited the fury of the liberal blogosphere, where the rally is being widely condemned as an affront to King’s legacy of racial harmony.
But behind the furor, many civil rights experts believe the spectacle may ultimately backfire on Beck and Palin. Whether the timing is coincidental or intentional, both have placed themselves in a position of having to utter addresses that will inevitably be compared to what is often regarded as the greatest American speech of the 20th Century.
“Clearly there is an intent to evoke the defining event of Aug. 28, 1963 — and that presents risks for Glenn Beck and Sarah Palin, who could easily be dwarfed by the history they appear to be taking on,” said University of Arkansas historian John Kirk, a renowned civil rights scholar.
Fox News this week appeared to distance itself from the event, emphasizing that the rally is the work of its top-rated news pundit Beck, rather than the network itself. Fox News has also said it does not intend to air live coverage of the rally.
Beck himself, who has heavily promoted the event as a “turning point for America,” insists the timing is purely coincidental — but upon learning that his rally will fall on the 47th anniversary of the Dream speech, he described the coincidence as “divine providence.”
The Rev. Al Sharpton, one of the rally’s fiercest critics, is planning a counter-rally Saturday that will see Martin Luther King supporters march simultaneously to the nearby site of a planned memorial to him in Washington.
At least one civil rights veteran who actually attended King’s 1963 March on Washington, however, told the Star she has no objections.
“Does this make a mockery of what we did and did so well on that day? I don’t see how it could,” said Maxine Smith, 80, a revered figure in her native Memphis for her lifelong involvement in the civil rights movement.
“What happened on that day was a coming together of America that none of us had ever seen before. I was a young woman then, but even now at 80 I feel blessed for what was one of the greatest experiences of my life.
“There were a quarter million of us. Black and white, and not a hint of disrespect. And we all stood spellbound by Dr. King’s words. It was a happy hallelujah day. And in my view that moment’s place in history is carved forever. Nothing can diminish it.”
Historian Kirk said the Beck/Palin rally dovetails with earlier attempts by various figures within the American right to appropriate King’s legacy into a more conservative world view.
“An interesting dimension in all of this is the fact that Martin Luther King’s overt religiosity served his activism — but today that religiosity is no longer associated with the liberal left, which no longer involves the church as a base for social activism,” said Kirk.
“Now it belongs more to the religious right. And I expect that is part of the rationale Palin and Beck will emphasize on Saturday, playing up the religious dynamics of Dr. King.”
John Whitehead, a civil rights scholar with the Virginia-based Rutherford Institute, said the furor building over Saturday’s rally suggests neither side truly understands the ideals to which King dedicated his life.
“What is so sad about all this bickering and fighting is that King would have wanted none of it. Glenn Beck says this is divine providence, that God is somehow directing this — but to have a rally honouring the military suggests Beck and King worshipped different Gods because Martin Luther King’s God clearly was a lover of peace,” said Whitehead.
“And on the other side, Martin Luther King wouldn’t have wanted people making a fuss over his statue, as Al Sharpton is doing. He would have wanted them carrying on his work — marching against poverty, rather than marching about monuments. This whole affair simply politicizes a great man. We’ve come a long way. But after 47 years, I would have hoped we’d come further.”
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