King’s call for justice still relevant

Three days after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., the April 7, 1968 edition of The Chula Vista Star News had a small item referencing the tragedy.

Buried in the lower left corner of the Sunday edition broadsheet—beneath stories asking “Who will be Chula Vista’s next mayor?”, or promoting the paper’s political endorsements—was the headline “South Bay Mourns Death of King”.

The nine paragraph story told of a national day of mourning for the civil righst leader and a memorial service planned at Temple Beth Shalom in Chula Vista.

“ Jack Katz, EOC executive director, told The Star News…’All persons associated with the San Diego War on Poverty are dedicated to Dr. King’s principles and will continue to seek justice and opportunities for the disadvantaged as did Dr. King during his lifetime.’ “

Further into the paper, on it’s editorial pages the lead opinion stated, in closing:

“The memory of Martin Luther King will loom long and large in American history. But it is up to us whether his life and death cats a shadow of light or of darkness.

“We must overcome our past, or our past will engulf us. We must make this effort and succeed at it because it is right and because it is fair and because we cannot afford to do otherwise if our children and grandchildren are to grow up in a just and secure nation.

“This—not violent demonstrations or sorrowful statements or guilt-ridden speeches or days of mourning—is the kind of tribute that Martin Luther King would like best.”

More than 50 years later those children, grandchildren and, in some cases, great-grandchildren—find themselves in a country that is far from just and is increasingly not secure.

In cities nationwide, the disadvantaged, the working class, the immigrants, and the seekers of justice find themselves under scrutiny and attack from federal agents, as they enforce Draconian immigration laws. In 2025, 32 people died in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody while just last week an American citizen, Renee Good, was shot to death by an agent in Minneapolis, Minnesota after a tense interaction with several officers.

Sadly, King’s call for justice is more dire today than it was decades ago. Let us reflect on what we can do to achieve that goal before it is too late.