The Poor, Too, Had a Champion in Dr. King : Sadly, his challenge to eradicate poverty remains unmet

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his final Sunday morning sermon on March 31, 1968, less than a week before he was assassinated. As he denounced racism, he also delivered a challenge “to rid our nation and the world of poverty.” As the nation today celebrates the anniversary of his birth, that challenge remains spectacularly unmet.

From the pulpit of the National Cathedral in Washington, Dr. King said: “This is America’s opportunity to bridge the gulf between the haves and the have-nots. And the question is whether America will do it. There is nothing new about poverty. What is new is we now have the techniques and the resources to get rid of poverty. But the real question is whether we have the will.” That question is worth reflecting on as homage is paid to a man who was a champion of the poor in addition to being a civil rights hero.

King’s emphasis on economic justice coincided with the peak of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s valiant War on Poverty. Much was accomplished during this noble but maligned federal effort to train and educate poor Americans. Something worked: In 1973, nine years after Johnson declared war on poverty, the U.S. poverty rate dipped to the lowest level ever measured.

America needs reminding of what worked beyond Head Start, the invaluable early childhood education program. “America’s War on Poverty,” a PBS series airing tonight, Tuesday and Wednesday, gives eyewitness accounts of the successes, the failures and the lessons of the poverty programs of the 1960s and 1970s. This historical analysis documents a window of opportunity created by unparalleled national prosperity and fostered by a President who led with boldness. Anti-poverty programs trained legions of Americans, and well-paying jobs provided a bridge from segregation to integration for many blacks, as well as an opportunity for upward mobility for all races.

“America’s War on Poverty”--produced by Henry Hampton and Blackside Inc. of Boston, also the producers of the PBS civil rights documentary “Eyes on the Prize” and “The Great Depression” series--does not ignore the nexus between race and poverty. However, the series also does not fall into the common trap of stereotyping American poverty as a uniquely black problem. In fact, the majority of the poor are white.

The series should contribute to the current national debate on how to encourage personal responsibility, reform welfare, reduce the underclass, improve schools and create jobs--the ultimate palliative for pernicious poverty. The gulf between the haves and have-nots that King preached about has widened dramatically and perilously. It threatens the next generation of poor children, who may never escape their limiting circumstances without some form of governmental or societal intervention. It also should be a concern for the most fortunate among us. Who wants to live in a society jeopardized by the permanently impoverished, the increasingly angry and the sometimes violent?

The fight against poverty has been complicated immeasurably by pervasive drug abuse, poor schools and an economic restructuring that resulted in the disappearance of decent jobs for decent men and women who are more than willing to work. It is not too late to make progress, if more Americans emulate Dr. King. He had the will.