Are we continuing MLK’s change?

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. changed America, but are we going to continue the change today?

The Rev. Al Sharpton posed that question during Saturday’s keynote address at Terrebonne Parish’s National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s 2010 salute to King. The event was themed “No Business As Usual.”

During his local speech, Sharpton recounted his visit to King’s grave a day earlier during an Atlanta celebration.

“As I stood there and put a wreath on Dr. King’s grave, I thought about how we are living in the best of times, but also the worst of times,” he said. “We have an African-American president, two African-American governors and 40 African-American members of Congress. Yet, the condition of inequality still exists.”

Sharpton’s comments drew laughter and tears from the crowd of nearly 100 who packed New Rising Sun Baptist Church.

From the pulpit, Sharpton also took a shot at fellow minister, the Rev. Pat Robertson, who recently suggested the Haiti earthquake was a result of Haitians making “a pact with the devil” to gain freedom from France. “What kind of Christianity is Pat Robertson a member of? Judging persons who are in need? That’s not the kind of Christianity that’s in my Bible. If you have to be qualified to get help, then something is wrong,” Sharpton said.

Former Tangipahoa Parish justice of the peace Keith Bardwell also caught Sharpton’s ire. He resigned from office last year in the wake of a public maelstrom after he refused to marry an interracial couple.

Although Sharpton did not specifically name Bardwell, the target of his barb was clear.

“Some say we’re in a post-racial generation,” the minister said. “I saw we’re in a post-racial conservation. Yet, anytime you have people in Louisiana who don’t want to perform interracial marriages, then, as a people, we are still not where we need to be.”

Terrebonne Parish Southern Christian Leadership Council Chapter president, the Rev. Vincent Fusilier Sr., introduced Sharpton, calling him a “great icon of our time” and “voice for the downtrodden.”

Terrebonne Parish NAACP President Jerome Boykin said he was honored to have Sharpton in Houma. “With the devastation in Haiti, it was truly an honor for him to keep his commitment to us so that we could observe Dr. King’s birthday.”

“King’s dream was not the White House down, but your house up. Yet, black kids are still four grades behind others in reading and in math. We’re still four times more likely to go to jail and be charged with the same crime and have the same criminal background. And, we’re four times more likely to be turned down for a bank loan,” Sharpton said.

“The dream of Dr. King was to bring about equality – not a breakthrough. But, if those who we put in positions forget about who they are, we could have a season for no reason,” he said. “Some are impressed with their title as opposed to their function. What do we care if you have a long title, because you may be short in getting something done. You may impress yourself, but people didn’t march, go to jail and lose their lives for you to get a big job.”

Before Sharpton left the podium, he challenged the crowd to keep their faith. “If you believe in a higher power, know that if you stand up for what’s right, God will hold you up. He (King) held up all the way to his assassination, and he continues to hold him up today,” he said.

“Remember, some of us holding us down aren’t ‘other folks,’ it is some of us. Drug dealing, gang banging, violence in our communities – our children want to be gangsters and thugs rather than thinkers and producers. If we don’t challenge what’s going on, who will?” Sharpton asked.

The Rev. Al Sharpton (middle) addresses the crowd at New Rising Sun Baptist Church in Houma Saturday during a salute to Dr. Martin Luther King. Looking on are the Revs. Noah Smith and (behind Sharpton) Kenneth Jackson. * Photo by HOWARD J. CASTAY JR.