Roland Martin gives a very well articulated opinion on why Obama should have been in Memphis for the 40th Anniversary of King’s assassination, and as I have written before, I do not agree with this idea, but he has some very solid points…

I thought Obama should have been in Memphis because the nation’s attention was focused on that day, and not Indiana, where he was. Had Obama been there he could have used the opportunity to further present himself in the image of King, someone who wasn’t willing to shy away from the tough fights and stay focused on his work in the pulpit. To have Obama stand on that balcony would have meant that they may have killed the dreamer, but a potential Obama presidency represented the continuing of that dream. Had Obama been there he could have used the moment to make plain to America that King was not just a black man fighting for black rights, but someone who ended up freeing white Americans from their own racial prisons and forced them to truly embrace the U.S. Constitution they so dearly loved. Had Obama been there he could have met with the 18 black sanitation workers who are still on the job in Memphis because they don’t have any city pensions. Yes, those men must still work because the racism in 1968 continues to affect their lives in 2008.

My only issue with his argument is that earlier in the article he talks about not getting stuck in the past, but then he talks about Barack painting himself in the image of King. We have to understand that Barack has a different mission than King right now. His mission is a political one, not one primarily of Social Justice. We have to understand that once he becomes President, a title he will never lose, we will have a very powerful force for social justice in the future. However, right now he may have to limit his calls for Social Justice, in order to ultimately win the war. King understood this when he led his “symbolic” march to the Selma bridge on March 9th 1965, but did not try to cross and complete his march to the capital. You see, a southern judge who was somewhat sympathetic to their cause, blocked the march for that particular day, and King did not want to defy the court order and lose the Judge’s possible support in the future. King understood that sometimes you have to live to fight another day, and on March 25th 1965, he got his victory, crossing that bridge, and continuing on to the capital Montgomery under Federal protection.

p.cash