How do we talk about race? UW professor joins KIRO Newsradio amid MLK Day

A massive 70-member choir belted out “Hallelujah” to open a Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Day service Monday at his former congregation in Atlanta, followed by a stern message from his youngest daughter warning against anti-woke rhetoric.

The service at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta was among the most prominent commemorations of King planned across the country Monday. It also included seven people at the front of the stage, holding large signs proclaiming “JUSTICE,” “FREEDOM” and “DEMOCRACY.”

Rev. Bernice King on MLK Day: ‘To be woke is to be aware of oppression’

“We are living in a time when anti-woke rhetoric has become a weapon to divide us and distract us from the real issues of injustice,” King’s daughter, Rev. Bernice King, said. “To be woke is to be aware of oppression and commitment to justice.”

Participants at the annual service rose to their feet as she warned those who would strip away their civil rights: “We will not go back!” she said.

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Are Americans getting better at talking about race?

To commemorate MLK Day, “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio hosted Dr. Ralina Joseph, a professor of communication and adjunct professor of American ethnic studies and gender, women and sexuality studies at the University of Washington (UW), to discuss how we talk about race.

Joseph does not believe Americans are getting much better at having conversations around race.

“I think that many of us really revert to our silos when it comes to questions around race, and we go to the places that feel most comfortable, which means that we’re not having those questions answered across the aisle, across race, across different types of partisanships in the way that I think is really useful for people,” she said.

One reason for this, explained Joseph, is that a lot of people, mostly white people, didn’t grow up having conversations around race or about their own race and how it affects others.

“There’s this assumption that sometimes white is not a race, so if you haven’t grown up talking about your own race, then it becomes more uncomfortable to actually talk about the way in which your race is functioning with regards to other people’s races, and how to make sense of it,” Joseph said.

Joseph added that many people, especially Gen X, grew up in a “colorblind moment,” where it was seen as impolite to mention race.

“As children, they might have been told, ‘Don’t talk about race.’ ‘We don’t see things like color. We’re colorblind.’ But we now know, from all the research, that that is not a good thing because it prevents us from having very real-life conversations,” she explained. “It makes race into something that is a negative as opposed to an attribute and it doesn’t allow us to actually talk through so many of the racial problems that we see in order to come to solutions.”

She added that learning how to have conversations about race first within families and friend groups is important. To get started, Joseph sent MyNorthwest a list of prompts: view the PDF here.

Trump’s inauguration creates mixed feelings on MLK Day

The MLK holiday was half of the nation’s double-duty Monday. The inauguration of Donald Trump, who heads back to the White House, created mixed feelings on King’s day for civil rights leaders who have opposed Trump’s rhetoric and stances on race and civil rights.

The keynote speaker at Ebenezer made a reference to Trump, saying he had heard “that somebody had won a mandate.”

“I don’t care who you are, if you win 60% of the vote, you never win a mandate to violate justice,” Bishop William Barber II, co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign, said. “You never win a mandate to hurt people.”

He implored people to “tell the truth” about poverty, hunger and social injustice.

“The right time to tell the truth is always right now, and telling the truth is the most radical and prophetic moral action you can take in a season of lies,” Barber said.

In his speech after taking the oath of office, Trump noted the significance of the King holiday.

“In his honor, we will strive together to make his dream a reality,” Trump said. “We will make his dream come true.”

Ebenezer is where King was baptized as a child and ordained at 19 years old. He became the congregation’s co-pastor in 1960 alongside his father, Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. He remained in that role until his death eight years later, and his funeral was held at the church. The church is now part of the Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historical Park & Preservation District.

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Previous times the inauguration and MLK Day coincided

It marks the third time in the nearly 40 years since the federal King holiday became law where it coincides with a presidential inauguration. Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama were also sworn in for their second terms on the holiday.

King himself worried the legal protections he dedicated his life to realizing would not be followed by greater anti-discrimination efforts or social programs. The celebrated Black civil rights leader proposed it would take white Americans embracing a deeper kinship with Black Americans and engaging in economic and social solidarity to see change.

There was a heavy security presence outside the Atlanta church, where more than two dozen police officers from across metro Atlanta stood guard with all-terrain vehicles, police motorcycles and suburban utility vehicles. Streets in the immediate vicinity of the historic church were blocked to vehicle traffic.

In frigid Columbia, South Carolina, an MLK Day rally at the South Carolina Statehouse entered its 25th year with a smaller crowd, with some trepidation mixed in about the change of power occurring in Washington. The South Carolina event started in 2000 when tens of thousands poured in to demand the Confederate flag be taken down from the Capitol dome.

In 2013, the rally paused so thousands on hand could watch Obama, the nation’s first Black president, take the oath of office for a second time on big screens. On Monday, there was no mention of the 2025 inauguration.

College student Michael Parker thought about how King endured through all kinds of racism and hate, confident he would make the world a better place. That was the attitude he was taking Monday.

“There’s still work to be done,” Parker said. “Progress hasn’t gone steady through the generations. We need to keep working on Dr. King’s dream.”

Background of Martin Luther King Junior’s death

King was shot in Memphis, Tennessee while standing on the balcony of the old Lorraine Motel on April 4, 1968. The civil rights leader had been in the city to support a sanitation workers’ strike. The motel has been turned into the National Civil Rights Museum, which is providing free admission and offering extended hours to visitors on Monday.

Also on the schedule at the museum are musical performances, food and blood donation drives and a live-streamed presentation that will explore King’s leadership and his relevance to present-day social justice movements.

Meanwhile, in New Orleans, unusually cold temperatures and an expected winter storm spurred officials to cancel an event they had planned Monday in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. New Orleans residents woke up to below-freezing temperatures as a blast from the Arctic moved into the region, and a winter storm warning was issued for Tuesday when forecasters say three to six inches of snow and sleet is possible, along with some icing.

Contributing: The Associated Press and Julia Dallas, MyNorthwest