Statement of Representative Kathy Castor Observing the 40^th Anniversary of the Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.

April 2, 2008

Madam Speaker, Martin Luther King, Jr. is a national hero.  He embodied the tenacious spirit and compassionate understanding of the American ideal.  The power of his words has moved millions to live with hope in their hearts and welcome in their embrace. 

Dr. King fought for racial equality and desegregation with nonviolent protest.  Peace, he taught us, is our most powerful weapon.  He helped communities begin to heal the wounds of hatred and indignity by replacing them with cooperation and tolerance.  The mark he left on our society is indelible.  When an assassin took him from us on that April day in 1968, Americans mourned a terrible loss.  Sooner than expected, we had to enact the lessons he taught us without his guidance to show us the way.  But his ink was already imprinted on our moral fiber, and our country continued his fight to end discrimination and segregation.

Madam Speaker, let us, as an American community, pause today to remember the legacy Dr. King left for each of us to carry – to dream, to love, and to accept.