|
|
|
|
|
Arndrea
Waters
King
(left),
Yolanda
Renee
King and
Martin
Luther
King III
visit
the
Martin
Luther
King Jr.
Memorial
on MLK
Day in
January
2020.
(Photo:
Sarah
Silbiger/Getty
Images) |
|
King
family:
‘Difficult
decision’
to
attend
Biden’s
voting
rights
speech
By Quint
Forgey
politico.com
ATLANTA
- Martin
Luther
King III
and his
wife
Arndrea
Waters
King
acknowledged
Tuesday
that it
was a
“difficult
decision”
for them
to
attend
President
Joe
Biden’s
upcoming
speech
on
voting
rights,
an event
several
high-profile
activists
are
skipping
because
of what
they
view as
the
White
House’s
inaction
on the
issue.
“We
certainly
understand
the
frustration
of our
local
partners
here in
Georgia,”
Arndrea
Waters
King
told
MSNBC in
an
interview.
“It’s
been a
long
year of
a lot of
things
not
being
done,
and we
stand
and we
share
that
frustration.”
Biden
and Vice
President
Kamala
Harris
are
scheduled
to speak
Tuesday
afternoon
at the
Atlanta
University
Center
Consortium
— on the
campuses
of two
historically
Black
colleges,
Clark
Atlanta
University
and
Morehouse
College
— where
they
will
push for
the
passage
of two
federal
voting
rights
bills
that
remain
stalled
in the
Senate.
Many
civil
rights
leaders
will
appear
in
person
for
Biden’s
and
Harris’
remarks,
including
Rainbow
PUSH
Coalition
founder
Rev.
Jesse
Jackson,
National
Action
Network
founder
Rev. Al
Sharpton,
National
Urban
League
President
Marc
Morial
and
NAACP
President
and CEO
Derrick
Johnson.
But a
number
of
voting
rights
activists
have
declined
to
attend
Biden’s
speech,
which
the
White
House
has
underscored
as
evidence
of the
president’s
commitment
to
reforming
the
nation’s
voting
laws
following
the
one-year
anniversary
of the
Capitol
insurrection
and in
advance
of the
2022
midterm
elections.
“We’re
beyond
speeches.
We’re
beyond
events,”
Black
Voters
Matter
co-founder
LaTosha
Brown
told
Atlanta’s
NPR
station.
“We
don’t
need any
more
photo
ops. We
need
action,”
former
Georgia
NAACP
President
James
Woodall
told The
New York
Times.
Even
Georgia
gubernatorial
candidate
Stacey
Abrams —
one of
the
nation’s
preeminent
voting
rights
advocates
and a
Democratic
Party
star —
will not
attend
Biden’s
speech,
citing a
scheduling
issue.
Spokesperson
Seth
Bringman
said in
a
statement
that
Abrams
“has a
conflict
and
expressed
her
support”
for the
event
already.
Biden
also
downplayed
Abrams’
absence
as he
departed
the
White
House
for
Atlanta,
telling
reporters:
“I spoke
to
Stacey
this
morning.
We have
a great
relationship.
We got
our
scheduling
mixed
up. …
We’re
all on
the same
page.”
On
Tuesday
morning,
the
Kings
said
they had
“been in
communication”
with the
activists
boycotting
the
event,
including
Black
Voters
Matter
co-founder
Cliff
Albright.
“We
certainly
share
his
position
and
understand
their
frustration.
And they
also
expressed
that
they
understand
our
position
in
coming
to the
table
and
expressing
these
frustrations
directly
to the
president,”
Arndrea
Waters
King
said.
Martin
Luther
King
III, the
eldest
son of
late
civil
rights
leaders
Martin
Luther
King Jr.
and
Coretta
Scott
King,
also
suggested
he was
disappointed
by how
little
the
White
House
had
accomplished
to
counter
a wave
of
voting
restrictions
passed
by
several
Republican
state
legislatures
in the
aftermath
of the
2020
election.
“I don’t
even
understand
how
anybody
would be
against
expanding
and
protecting
the
right to
vote and
preserving
democracy,”
Martin
Luther
King III
said.
“It’s a
very sad
position
… where
we are
right
now. And
absolutely,
I think
that a
lot of
this
should
have
already
been
done.”
Martin
Luther
King III
went on
to urge
the
White
House to
tackle
the
stalled
voting
rights
bills
with the
same
force
Biden
used to
muscle a
mammoth,
$550
billion
infrastructure
package
through
Congress
last
year
after
months
of
back-and-forth
negotiations.
“What we
are
saying
to the
president
is, we
need to
see and
hear
today
how
you’re
going to
get
these
bills
passed.
… We
want him
to use
his full
weight,”
Martin
Luther
King III
said.
“We know
that the
White
House,
when it
really
wants
something
done,
they
have a
lot of
influence
that
they can
use. And
that’s
what we
expect
to hear
and
see.”
Spokespeople
for the
White
House
did not
immediately
return a
request
for
comment
on the
Kings’
remarks.
But
White
House
press
secretary
Jen
Psaki
addressed
their
concerns
en route
to
Atlanta,
telling
reporters
that
Biden is
“looking
forward
to
seeing
the King
family
today.”
“It is
not that
we don’t
understand
the
frustration.
We do,”
Psaki
said.
“We want
Congress
to pass
this
legislation,
as well.
The
president
is going
to make
a very
clear
case
that
today is
a day,
right
now is a
moment
where
people
will
look in
the
history
books
and see
where
you
stood. …
And I
think
that’s
something
[that]
probably
the King
family
would
agree
with.”
In his
address
Tuesday,
Biden is
expected
to take
aim at
Republican
lawmakers
in state
legislatures
and
Congress
who are
blocking
voting
rights
reforms.
He also
will
cast the
upcoming
legislative
battle
as “a
turning
point in
this
nation.”
“Will we
choose
democracy
over
autocracy,
light
over
shadow,
justice
over
injustice?”
Biden
will
say,
according
to an
excerpt
of his
prepared
remarks
released
by the
White
House.
“I know
where I
stand. I
will not
yield. I
will not
flinch.
I will
defend
your
right to
vote and
our
democracy
against
all
enemies
foreign
and
domestic.
And so
the
question
is where
will the
institution
of [the]
United
States
Senate
stand?”
Prior to
their
speeches
in
Atlanta,
Biden
and
Harris
are
scheduled
to
participate
in a
wreath-laying
at the
crypt of
Martin
Luther
King Jr.
and
Coretta
Scott
King,
and to
visit
the
historic
Ebenezer
Baptist
Church.
Myah
Ward
contributed
to this
report.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|