Reagan Lauds King’s Legacy of Civil Rights

President Reagan, in one of his few official appearances in recent weeks, saluted the late Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Thursday and challenged the youth of America to make their generation “free of bigotry, intolerance and discrimination.”

The President used the 58th anniversary of the civil rights leader’s birth to deliver a nationally televised speech from his desk in the Oval Office. It was his first appearance in a formal setting since undergoing prostate surgery on Jan. 5.

Reagan’s remarks dealt only with King and the need for racial harmony in the United States. The President, who opposed the designation of a national holiday honoring King but signed the authorizing legislation when it reached him in 1983, said that “ours is a better country today, each of you has more potential, more opportunity, because of the hard work and courage of one remarkable individual.”

Emphasizing King’s accomplishments and goals, Reagan said that, “as recent unfortunate events have demonstrated, we cannot be complacent about racism and bigotry.”

A White House official said the remark did not refer specifically to the death of a black man in a racial incident in the Howard Beach section of New York City on Dec. 20.

Nor did Reagan respond in the 10-minute speech to a statement this week by John E. Jacob, president of the National Urban League, who said that blacks in America face high unemployment, poverty and “a resurgence of raw racism” as a result of Reagan Administration social and economic policies.

Challenges Nation

Reagan said: “I would challenge all of you to pledge yourselves to building an America where incidents of racial hatred do not happen because racism has been banned not just from the law books, but from the hearts of the people.

“You should accept nothing less than making yours a generation free of bigotry, intolerance and discrimination,” he said.

Although King was born on Jan. 15, 1929, his holiday will be observed next Monday, creating a three-day weekend. King was assassinated in 1968.

When legislation establishing the national holiday was making its way through Congress, Reagan opposed it. He said that he would prefer a day of recognition for King, rather than creating a formal holiday on which banks and government offices are closed.

Blacks Vote Democratic

Reagan ended up signing the legislation, on the recommendation of political advisers who were concerned about his unpopularity with blacks. In the general election a year later, Reagan received 8% of the black vote and Walter F. Mondale, the Democratic presidential candidate, got 92%, according to a Los Angeles Times poll.

The Thursday speech, which was carried on Cable News Network, was to have been beamed live by satellite to high schools around the nation. However, a technical problem at the transmission point near here blocked the live broadcast. A videotape rebroadcast is to be relayed by satellite to the schools for use at their convenience.