First Muslim U.S. Congressman says civil rights movement not over despite election
By: Kyle Meredith, Editor-in-Chief
Issue date: 2/5/09 Section: News
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Representative Keith Ellison, a Democrat who represents Minnesota's Fifth District, who was a few minutes late due to a flight delay, was the final speaker in the College's series of Martin Luther King, Jr. events. Ellison was introduced by Senior Associate Dean of Students and Director of Intercultural Relations Rob Flot and Gorter Professor of Sociology and Anthropology and Director of the Islamic World Studies Program Ahmad Sadri, both Muslims themselves. The program, "From King to Barack Hussein Obama," touched on both King's life as well as the current political and racial situation.
"This is a critical and historical marker," said Ellison of Obama's election to the Presidency. "It would have been impossible to imagine from the standpoint of someone in 1959 that we would have a president of African descent in fifty years."
"We are not post-racial yet," he said. "But we are making the words of the Declaration of Independence come true." Ellison also made clear that he believes Americans have made exceptional progress in the area of race relations, saying that, "few civilizations can claim such a rapid social advancement in such a short period of time."
Though race relations were an important component of Martin Luther King's program of Civil Rights, Ellison focused most of his speech on some of King's lesser known messages, especially those regarding income disparity and access to education and healthcare. "Let us remember everything that Martin Luther King said, not just about a society of racial equality, but of economic justice," he said.
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