Opposition to Beck’s rally ill-founded

Glenn Beck has a dream.

Beck envisions a country that will forever embrace the principles of integrity, truth and honor established by the men and women who founded the United States. He dreams of honoring great Americans who fought to uphold those principles — including Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love or hate Beck, his dream is righteous.

King used his “I Have a Dream” speech to exalt the self-evident truths of the Declaration of Independence and to proclaim the rights of individuals over the oppression imposed upon them by governments. “I Have a Dream” may stand as history’s greatest limited-government speech. King spoke of a country that defaulted on a promissory note that guaranteed freedom for individuals — a guarantee betrayed mostly by governments.

King warned against the type of racial politics that seem dominant today.

“The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to distrust of all white people,” King said, in “I Have a Dream.”

Yet Beck, who is white, finds himself at the center of a racial controversy for espousing values similar to those professed by King. Some opponents are outraged that Beck planned his massive “Restore America” rally in Washington for Saturday — the 47th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.

“Beck and Co. haven’t only exploited and subverted King’s message, they’ve spat on it,” wrote Nadra Kareem, who authors “Nadra’s Race Relations Blog” on About.com.

The opposition to Beck’s rally seems rooted in an ill-founded belief that King was a leftist who would oppose Beck’s limited-government message if he were alive to hear it. Where they get that notion seems unclear.

Alveda King is Martin Luther King Jr.’s niece. She grew up under the guidance of her uncle in a family she said was extremely close and religious. She will speak at the rally.

“My uncle believed we must honor God first, then our parents and families and communities,” Alveda King said. “That is the message Glenn Beck brings to Washington. It’s a message of repentance and honor which is what my uncle spoke of 47 years ago. My uncle would be happy to see people of every ethnicity and all religious denominations coming together for this event.”

Alveda King explained her belief that less government, not more, enhances civil rights and fulfills the dreams instilled in her by her uncle, her father (the late civil rights leader A.D. King) and her grandfather.

Most racial discrimination was the result of more government, not less. Jim Crow laws, which forced varieties of discrimination and segregation, were imposed and maintained by government — not individuals or the free market.