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African-American History
Show King the Money
by Earl Ofari Hutchinson
There was much hand shaking, back slapping and headline grabbing quips by advocates of
a King memorial after the National Capital Planning Commission unanimously approved the
Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in
Washington, D.C. But buried underneath the euphoria and behind the headlines the small
item that went virtually unnoticed was the remark by the project chairman that it will
cost millions to build the memorial. After the design of the memorial is officially
approved they have seven years to raise the cash to build the memorial.
Then the question is: Who should pay for the King memorial? The obvious answer is those
who benefited the most from the epochal social changes of the King inspired and led Civil
Rights Movement should pay. That means virtually everyone since practically anyone who
draws a breath on the planet has reaped the rewards of that movement. The civil rights
movement had a global sweep. It ignited or profoundly influenced labor struggles,
anti-colonial battles in Africa and Asia, social gospel priests in Latin America, student
and pro-democracy movements in Europe, the gay and women's movements, the peace movements,
and ushered in a new age of economic and social justice for Americans of all colors. The
civil rights movement also remolded and democratized much of law, politics and theology in
America.
The broad reach of King's shadow even extended to conservatives. Many of them have
shamelessly misrepresented his remarks about a colorblind society to hammer affirmative
action and social programs. White Southern politicians, who fought tooth and nail against
King when he was alive, have rode the crest of the White backlash to the civil rights
movement to reemerge as major players in national politics. While they all owe an eternal
debt to King and should pay, no one has benefited more from the gargantuan social changes
that King inspired then Blacks. Here are two compelling reasons why they should make it
their solemn mission to bankroll the King memorial.
The first reason is the total remake of Black America. The eternal media and public
image of Black communities as a vast wasteland of violence and despair and in permanent
crisis and chaos is false, phony and self-serving. In the three decades since the Civil
Rights Movement smashed the barriers of legal segregation this is how Black America has
benefited and changed. According to a recent census bureau report released in February
1999:
- Nearly nine out of ten African Americans aged 25-29 are high school graduates, and 15
percent have college degrees. College enrollment among Blacks has soared forty percent
over what it was a decade ago. The Black high school drop rate is only marginally higher
than that of non-Blacks.
- African-American median income continues to grow, and the drop in poverty rates for
African-Americans accounts for 60 percent of the overall drop in poverty in America.
- Twenty percent of African-Americans worked in management or the professions.
- The number of Black owned businesses leaped nearly 50 percent, and their gross receipts
rose 63 percent between 1987-1992.
- Nearly sixty percent of African-American children under 18 live in a married-couple
family.
The second reason is money. More African Americans have more of it than ever before in
their lives. Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan, Bill Cosby, Michael Jackson and thousands of
athletes and entertainers bag staggering mega buck incomes and contracts. They alone have
the wealth and income to bankroll dozens of King monuments. Yet they are only the most
visible and conspicuous tip of the iceberg of Black wealth. Nearly half of all Blacks now
earn incomes above $25,000. And there are thousands of businessperson and professionals
who earn incomes far above that.
According to a feature in the September 1999 edition of Emerge magazine, there are at
least 10 predominantly Black communities nationally where the average household income
tops $50,000. Some of these communities have average household incomes that far exceed
even that amount.
The leading 100 Black corporations in the 1999 Black Enterprise magazine annual
business survey had sales of more than $4 billion. While stock and mutual fund investments
by Blacks still drag behind that of Whites, more than 30 percent of blacks have stock and
bond investments. And the number of Black stock investors continues to climb.
King's old fraternity, Alpha Phi Alpha, will spearhead a national and international
campaign to raise funds for the memorial. With the mountainous wealth and income of many
Blacks, it shouldn't take seven days or even seven minutes to bankroll a memorial for the
man who did so much for so many. If it does take a second longer than that to show King
the money it will be the nation's shame and disgrace and African Americans special shame
and disgrace.
Earl Ofari
Hutchinson is a nationally syndicated columnist and the director of the National Alliance
for Positive Action. E-mail: ehutchi344@aol.com
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