Reflections on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Dear Skidmore Community,
I write to you today on the occasion of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday. Monday,
Jan. 18 is the day of commemoration, the national holiday to celebrate King, his achievements
and all he stood for. While members of the Skidmore community honored Dr. King's birthday
for many years, Skidmore officially recognized this day as a College holiday beginning
in 2008.
On this day, in the wake of the terrible attack on the U.S. Capitol last week — an
act that stands in such glaring contrast to the heroic actions of peacefully marching,
protesting and advocating for change that King and so many others exemplified in their
lifetimes — King's example seems all the more inspiring and timely for us, during
this very moment in our troubled history.
Much of King's remarkable achievement is how he simultaneously demanded that America
be better — that it be what it claims to be, that it live up to its inspiring ideals
— and that we all as individuals be better. I think our attitude toward King should
on the one hand be immense pride — he is surely one of the greatest figures America
has ever produced — and on the other hand enormous humility. When I look at King's
writings and at his life, I am humbled at how much he accomplished in his all-too-brief
39 years on this earth. And I am further humbled in a broader sense, thinking of the
necessary evacuation of self that King advocated — for King, it was always about others
first.
When I reflect on King's legacy, I think of his complex attitude toward America. Like
Ralph Ellison, King was "vindictively American" — he brought a righteous indignation
to America and its failings. This is a challenge that he lays at the feet of us all.
King described for us the "beloved community," and he challenged us to make it so.
I think right now that community may seem a long ways away to many of us. But that
is all the more reason for us to continue to strive towards it, to insist that we
work together to build it. King himself never despaired of the possibility of his
demanding vision. In one of his most famous phrases, he asserts, "the arc of the moral
universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I continue to believe this is true.
We engage in the work of the beloved community not in isolation, but as part of radiating
communities — our campus, our city, our surrounding regions, our families and social
networks, this nation and the global world that intersects with all these other communities
in such powerful ways.
Right here in Saratoga Springs, the recognition of King's legacy and the importance
of immersing ourselves in his ideas, work, and teachings are powerful. The MLK-Saratoga
organization has organized a superb array of events, speakers, workshops, concerts, and community discussions beginning this evening through Monday, all of which are quite germane to Skidmore’s
own interests and concerns. Skidmore College is proud to be a sponsor of the MLK-Saratoga
events. I encourage everyone to check out their programming, which of course in this COVID era is nearly all virtual and hence more accessible
to everyone, including our students, most of whom are away from campus right now.
In particular, I recommend considering the following programs: On Saturday, from 3
to 5 p.m., "Let's Talk Saratoga: Community Conversation on Police Reform in our Community,"
which focuses on the review and reform efforts in which Skidmore’s own faculty, staff,
and students are involved. On Sunday from 1 to 2 p.m., "Songs of Protest," featuring
musical performances by Garland Nelson '96. On Sunday from 3 to 5 p.m., a second Community
Conversation titled "Understanding Why and How We Protest." And finally, on Monday,
the keynote address will be delivered by Professor Loretta J. Ross, an author, activist
and public intellectual, who is welcoming people to work alongside her in "Calling
in the Calling Out Culture," as well as in the ongoing fight against white supremacy.
Skidmore is the community sponsor for this event.
As I reflect further on the events of the past week, I am struck by how contrary the
assault on the Capitol was to the spirit and the aspirations King harbored for this
country. I want to be crystal clear in saying that those who invaded the Capitol and
desecrated its fundamental symbolism have placed themselves outside of the range of
democratic discourse and dialogue. Those who flaunt the symbols that are definitive
of hate speech, that is, symbols that seek to cause violence and to express the outrages
of racism and anti-Semitism — confederate flags, swastikas, a Camp Auschwitz shirt
— have violated the fundamental respect for law, justice, and democracy on which this
nation and this college depend. I concur with Gen. Mark Milley and the Joint Chiefs
of Staff, who stated that "the rights of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly
do not give anyone the right to resort to violence, sedition, and insurrection." Our
dialogue and outreach will be to the vast majority of Americans who share our commitment
to the Constitution and the rule of law.
For this is where a liberal arts college plays such an important role in helping to
shape the future. It is no accident that King was a lifelong educator, and he saw
education as helping us to learn both how to think and how to act. One of my favorite
King quotes sums up the mission of a liberal arts college: "The function of education
is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character
— that is the goal of true education."
And so when we come together in the name of Martin Luther King, Jr., we come together
to honor a person, yes, but even more to honor all the things he stands for and all
the things he calls us to be. King asks us, and he asks America and the world, to
be the best it can be, to be what we know we ought to be. And this is hard. Easy to
say, hard to do, because it demands that we lead not with hate, which seems to come
so easily to human beings, but with love — and love is also work. As King himself
said, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive
out hate; only love can do that."
In this troubled time, I wish you all the spirit of what we celebrate on MLK day,
and I ask us all to join in the work that King calls on us to do.
Sincerely,
Marc C. Conner
President