Joseph Lowery, president emeritus of SCLC

For 20 years, the Rev. Joseph Lowery led the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the civil rights group founded by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  Now president emeritus of SCLC, Lowery travels the country speaking out for social justice.

On the eve of what would have been King’s 78th birthday, "AFL-CIO Now" Senior Writer James Parks interviewed Lowery about King’s vision for America.

Question: You once said Martin Luther King’s birthday is a “holy day, not a holiday.” What did you mean by that?

Lowery: Those of us who want to honor Dr. King should consider it a sacred day, a day when America made a solemn vow to respect racial equality and social justice. When it created the day, America took on a moral obligation to pursue the things Martin stood for—to love justice, help the poor and obey the civil rights laws.

Question: Dr. King was killed 39 years ago. In that time, what progress have people of color and poor people made? What still needs to be done?

Lowery: It’s a mixed picture. We have ennobled the messenger and ignored the message. Martin would be proud of the progress we have made. When he died (in 1968), there were only a few hundred black elected officials. Now there are 10,000. He’d be proud of that. But even where there are black mayors, millions of people live in poverty in the shadow of the city hall. Forty million people are without health insurance.

He would be very concerned about the war. The war has not only affected us financially, it has affected us morally. We have become a predator nation. Not only is the war taking the financial resources we need to fight poverty, but it is taking the lives of the middle class and the poor. They’re the ones fighting this war.

Question: What role should unions play in helping to bring about the world that Dr. King envisioned?

Lowery: Unions especially honor Dr. King’s message. He believed in workers’ rights, in fighting for the rights for poor people. He embraced collective bargaining and workers’ rights.

Today, we need to fight to raise the minimum wage and expand economic opportunities for the middle class and lower-income people. It is sinful when a handful of people have more than they will ever need while masses of people have less than they will always need.

Unions also have to clean up their own house. Unions haven’t been as reciprocal as they could with black people. They take their greatest supporters for granted. We need to have a new wave of energy for justice in the union movement—both within and without.

Question: What changes do you hope the new Congress will make?

Lowery: I like the direction they’re taking. The minimum wage increase—and it was a minimum increase—is a step in the right direction.

I hope they do everything they can to initiate a withdrawal of our troops from Iraq.

And they must establish a priority in our budget to take care of the poor and to provide universal health care.

I am very supportive of election reform. It’s dangerous to have the country lose confidence in the electoral system because our votes are not counted.