Bernice King explains why she’s “glad” Trump’s inauguration falls on Martin Luther King Day

When Donald Trump is sworn in because the forty seventh president of the United States at his inauguration on January 20, 2025, it would coincidentally fall on the federal holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Supporters of Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump’s Democratic opponent within the 2024 presidential election, had hoped that the day would as a substitute be a historic moment in Black history, with Harris being sworn in as the primary Black female president and only the second Black president in 248 -year history of the nation.

For many, the contrast between Trump’s inauguration and MLK Day is stark, considering Dr. King could be politically against Trump’s MAGA program.

King’s daughter, Dr. Bernice King, said that while there may be a “stark contrast” between her father’s ethos of “love and justice” and Trump’s record that “sanctions hatred and injustice,” she is “gratified” that the 2 events happened collide .

“The moment of the inauguration on MLK Day is a powerful reminder of the values ​​my father represented – unity, equality and non-violence. It challenges us to reflect on our leadership and the direction we are heading as a nation.” he said Bernice King in a public statement.

She continued: “The inauguration coinciding with my father’s day is not about comparing individuals, but about all leaders upholding the standards of love and justice that Dr. King exemplified. This is a call to uphold these enduring values ​​in our leadership and governance.”

Civil rights leaders have expressed concerns a couple of second Trump administration, given Trump’s vow to ban equity programs aimed toward eliminating long-standing racial disparities that may impact Black and brown Americans within the areas of business, education, health care and housing.

Bernice King described Trump as “someone who spreads hateful rhetoric” eloquent The independent president-elect “has not been very kind” and that his “policies are not humane.”

Wiley added: “We have seen him announce mass deportations that, frankly, will focus on communities of color. “We already know what he has promised to do, including using the military against his own citizens… all of this will become very real, very soon.”

“While MLK Day is a vacation, it has at all times been a day of re-engagement and acknowledgment that the work just isn’t yet done. Donald Trump’s second inauguration will probably be a stark reminder of that fact,” Batchelor said.

He continued: “A country that can on the same day celebrate a national holiday honoring a freedom fighter and hand over the presidency to an authoritarian peddler of white nationalism is a country still at war with its identity.”

Batchelor said Jan. 20 is the time when the United States must ask itself: “What form of country do we would like to grow to be? King’s dream or Donald Trump’s nightmare scenario?

He added: “This should also galvanize us into action. It should inspire us to take up the mantle of protest, peaceful resistance, social and economic justice, and radical love in the face of noisy hatred.”