Laying claim to King's legacy

Martin Luther King Jr. was more than a dreamy myth. The slain civil-rights leader was a powerful tug on the nation's conscience, so much so that 40 years after his death, turf battles linger over his legacy.

Jostling for the King mantle is a misguided exercise. King's legacy was inherited by us all, and with it the obligation to make good on its many ideals. This is worth remembering as we move through a presidential campaign rare in its unhidden theme of race and gender. Sen. Barack Obama, a black man with strong presidential prospects, carries part of King's legacy. So, too, does Sen. Hillary Clinton.

An attempt to twist the legacies these two hold came recently when Clinton told an interviewer that King's dream became a reality when Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Critics called her words a slight against King. In reality, it was a nonissue used as a political volley. Credit Sen. Obama for declining to play that odious game.

Both Clinton and Obama are leaders steeped enough in our tumultuous history to know the civil-rights battle was led by King and waged by tens of thousands of souls. Many braved snarling police dogs, crushing water cannons and racial enmity to press the case for equal rights.

Cementing the victory was civil-rights legislation in 1964 and 1965.

Why fight for ownership of the King legacy when his bequest to us is everywhere? The fruits of King's labors, and those of many others, are plain to see. Two deserve note: the Wing Luke Asian Museum and the Northwest African American Museum.

The former opens its doors this May in a more-spacious home in the East Kong Yick Building on South King Street. The African American Museum is the result of decades of work involving advocates from Seattle communities to Olympia. The museum opens to the public in March with exhibit space and 36 apartments for moderate-income households.

King's ideals of racial harmony, concern for the poor and celebration of the many heritages that make up America are embedded in the Wing Luke and Northwest African American museums.

Keeping these institutions strong and supporting others is the way we all can lay claim to King's legacy.