No other man in history of American civilization is revered in the same way and who has equally touched the core of the conscience of America like Dr. Martin Luther King. His famous words “Free at Last, Free at Last Thank God Almighty we’re Free at Last” have become in equal significance to the words “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” of Patrick Henry on the verge of the American war for independence.

Martin Luther King was born at a time when practically every southern state in America was segregated. The system was overtly divided and unequal in the educational, economic, political and social landscape of the Old South. Schools were segregated, restaurants were off limits to black people, and hotels had no vacancies when a black face appeared. Theatres, housing, waiting rooms, public restrooms, drinking fountains, public accommodation, even the queues for obtaining government services like obtaining a permit or purchasing a dog license were segregated.

All of this occurring within a nation which had built its wealth upon the backs of slaves and called itself the land of hope for the oppressed of the world; it had declared among the cornerstone of it core values that all men were created equal along with promised freedom and equal protection for all.{jospagebreak}

While Dr. King has emerged as an aljost prophetic stature to all Americans and he rose to the challenge and strode forth in the quest for social justice and racial equality even though he never saw the new face of the America his work inspired. He gave and sacrificed his life for the struggle, and central to this struggle was his commitment to change the nature of public opinion in America. Martin Luther King was able to influence the terms of debate in America and won overwhelming support not only throughout the US, but at the center stage of the world and his work and movement equally inspired the aspirations of people in the third world challenging colonialism. Key to his dream was a strong belief in social justice and impartiality, and reaffirming the dream that all people are created equal.

He inspired people to stand against racial injustice and brutality and so make the forces of oppression and bigotry give ground and yield to a greater sense of justice. He etched into consciousness of blacks, and mainstream white Americans the idea of going all out for one’s beliefs. While stimulating pride amongst the blacks in America, Martin Luther King preached the view that we all share a human and moral responsibility to join hands as brothers and sisters in the quest for social justice. He preached, and practiced, a philosophy of racial integration.

Even though King’s life was relatively short the impact of his work was far reaching in both America and the rest of the world. At home his work and the general civil rights movements showed a vital relationship between religion and politics. Many of the ideas of Dr. King were later adopted by mainstream America and many of the post civil rights era social issues, groups and organizations including Christian Coalition, environmental awareness movement, the Right to life movement, pro abortionists, and the left and rightwing groups formed as a result of voting rights. Even the Federal state and local governments had implemented changes and programs to accommodate the changing demands in American society brought about by the work of Dr. King.{jospagebreak}

Dr. King legacy lives on even though his vision for black Americans receiving a greater sense of racial justice and empowerment in America is just as far off today in 2005 as 1965. It is as if a new kind of segregation is silently eating away at black America. In spite of the many accomplishments since the civil rights struggle, segregation today is well coded and hidden in government policies and well entrenched in the judicial system. Today in America blacks make up an estimated 13% of the America population and up to 80% of the inmates in jails and prisons. What would Dr. King say about this? Is America failing blacks or is black leadership failing blacks or both?

In a 1968 Playboy interview, Dr King said, "If a city has a 30% Negro population, then it is logical to assume that Negroes should have at least 30% of the jobs in any particular company, and jobs in all categories rather than only in menial areas."

If there is logic to this statement then blacks should make up 13% or thereabout of inmates. Has Dr. King’s legacy been betrayed or hijacked by the same enemies he gave his life fighting?