Ekaterina Haskins, a professor of rhetoric at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., said President-elect Barack Obama "clearly sees himself as a descendant of...Martin Luther King," according to BBC News.
Some have gone as far as linking their historical significance, summed up in a catchphrase featured in an op-ed piece by the Democratic Party chairman of Pittsburgh's 22nd Ward, Khari Mosley:
"Rosa sat so Martin could walk; Martin walked so Obama could run; Obama is running so our children can fly!"
But it disservices King's legacy to elevate the former senator to the same status. In the way each has contributed to American culture and politics, the two could not be more different.
King earned his fame by organizing wide-scale non-violent protests: the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott, which curbed discrimination in the city's public transportation system, and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, which culminated in King's "I Have a Dream" speech and contributed to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the National Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Obama ascended to fame by climbing the political ladder from state senator to U.S. Senate and eventually to president. Along the way, he impressed millions with his speeches and wrote two autobiographical books that made him a Grammy winner. But in his decade-plus as a politician, he failed to pen legislation that would have brought about significant change.
Risks didn't deter King. He often put his own freedom on the line, gritting his teeth through multiple arrests, while defending the freedom of others. His became the face of what began as a widely unpopular movement, and King didn't shy from the limelight. In his last few years, he also protested the Vietnam War, alienating his allies in the media including Life magazine and the Washington Post. He risked his own reputation and support in order to fight for his principles.
Obama hasn't taken a significant public risk to date. His VP pick in Joe Biden was safe, as were most of his cabinet appointments. Even his entire record in the U.S. Senate has been safe, with some media outlets reporting that he voted with his party as much as 97% of the time. The president-elect rarely appears to have principles at all, having voted for the renewal of the USA PATRIOT Act that he vowed to repeal in a 2003 questionnaire. And he backed out of his promises to vote against the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 and to run a publicly funded presidential campaign.
King led a revolution. Through peaceful means, he nobly brought about real change, regardless of what it cost him, and fundamentally altered the fabric of the nation. Obama talked about a revolution but has refused to stray off the path worn by thousands of politicians before him, with his skin color as his most noteworthy characteristic.
Historians will mark Jan. 20, 2009 as a great day for equality in this country. But we need not let the glow of the flashlight that is Barack Obama eclipse the shine of the star that was, is and will be Martin Luther King, Jr.
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