To the Editor:

At a time when the country celebrates the president taking his oath of office and the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it might be good to recall Dr. King’s actions and message.

One of the things he said was, “Peace is not the absence of tension but the presence of justice.”

He led the civil rights movement. He opposed the Vietnam War. He supported the unionized garbage workers in Memphis.

One might wonder what he would think about things today, when we hesitate about preventing gun violence, we attack the most vulnerable by cutting programs that help them, we strongly support those of us who have more than we need, we attack our unions and laboring force, we fail to increase minimum wages to provide a decent living standard, we begin to attack the Voting Rights Act and we incarcerate more people than any other developed country.

The list could go on. It makes one wonder why we “celebrate” him.

The Rev. Henry & Hilde Bird
Harpswell