Scammer
Banned
-- Reaction to the deadly shootings in Arizona was part of a commemoration Friday of the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., as two of the most prominent African-American members of the Obama administration said King wanted justice against cruelty to mankind.
"That senseless act of violence," U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said, "reminded each of us more than 40 years after Dr. King's own untimely death, our long struggle to overcome and to eradicate cruelty goes on."
Holder was the keynote speaker at a commemoration organized by the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson drew a connection between King's legacy and speculation on whether by toxic political discourse contributed to the shootings.
"If we even have to wonder whether an act of random, pointless violence was influenced by the tenor of our public debate, then it is clear that these debates should change," Jackson said. "If the words that are used to discuss the issues affecting millions of Americans bear any resemblance to that terrible event in Arizona, then we need to work to find better words."
The two administration officials each related stories of how the slain civil rights leader influenced their careers. Holder noted that his sister-in-law, Vivian Malone, was the first to cross the racial barrier at the University of Alabama in 1963. She graduated and went on to a career in the civil rights division of the Justice Department, which Holder now heads.
Jackson also called on King's memory in her capacity as the first African-American to head the EPA.
Holder said environmental issues were part of King's legacy as well, as he struggled for better working conditions on behalf of black sanitation workers in Memphis. On April 4, 1968, King was assassinated while in Memphis in support of those workers.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday is Monday.
