Coretta King Urges Political Role for Blacks
The widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Sunday urged black Americans to boost their political power in the 1992 elections.
“I think we have to be alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating situation here at home,” Coretta Scott King declared in a speech on the eve of the national holiday marking the birthday of the civil rights leader.
Speaking from the pulpit of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where her husband was co-pastor, she said the United States “must now do a better job of providing economic security for our own citizens” to be credible as a leader in a world where human rights are advancing.
Without violating her pledge of neutrality in the presidential race, King told her audience in the packed church that it is “imperative” for blacks to “increase our voting power.”
“We must make every church and temple, every shopping center and every corner grocery store a voter-registration site,” she said.
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