Consulate General of the United States Chennai, India

OFFICIAL TEXT 

January 30, 2012 

U.S. Consul General Jennifer McIntyre’s Remarks at Jain University, Bangalore 

“MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.: THE JOURNEY TOWARDS FREEDOM”  

As Prepared Text           

Good morning. I am honored to be at Jain University this morning – an institution whose vision is to empower young men and women like you to become the leaders of tomorrow.  

I just had a wonderful discussion with Chancellor Dr. Chenraj Jain, Vice Chancellor Dr. Sundararajan, Pro Vice Chancellor Dr. Sandeep Shastry and other principal officers about the Jain University Trust which is responsible for 59 institutions, more than 30,000 students and 3000 faculty members.  

The U.S. Consulate is proud of its long standing relationship with your university, engaging in scholarly discussions on a host of issues that are of mutual Indo-U.S. interest.     

As January is the month that the United States celebrates Martin Luther King Day, I will focus my remarks today on the deep influence that India - and especially Mahatma Gandhi – had on Dr. King in his fight for equal rights in my country. 

Dr. King’s work in the Civil Rights movement has made a lasting impact on the United States not only for black Americans, but in improving equal treatment and justice for all Americans. 

I find it especially significant that I am giving this talk today – on January 30 – because it is on this very same day in 1948 that Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated.  

Like the observance of Martin Luther King Day in the United States, when Americans reflect on the life and achievements of Dr. King, I understand that January 30 is now observed as Martyrs Day in India and people take this opportunity to reflect on the extraordinary life of Gandhi.    

And during the month of February, the United States celebrates Black History Month – a time when we will remember and honor the contributions that the African-American community has made toward building our nation and making real the principles that America was founded upon.  

We recognize and celebrate other black-American iconic figures like:  

• Frederick Douglass, a former slave living in the 1800s -- who was a powerful orator for equal suffrage to include not only blacks but women, and became the leader of the slavery abolitionist movement and advocated with President Abraham Lincoln for better and equal treatment of black soldiers during the U.S. Civil War. 
• Rosa Parks, whose brave refusal in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama to give up her bus seat to a white man sparked the 381 day Montgomery bus boycott which resulted in the end of Alabama’s racial segregation laws in buses in 1956; and
• Medgar Evers, a civil rights activist and leader in the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) whose efforts helped overcome racially discriminatory admissions policies at the University of Mississippi and facilitated the first enrollment of a black student in 1962. 

We recognize these leaders of the abolitionist and civil rights movements whose vision, courage, and sacrifice set the United States on a path toward liberty, equality, and opportunity for all citizens.  

These heroes of American history champion a message that is universal. They have inspired and been inspired by those who have taken up the cause of freedom and equality in their own countries.   

One cannot truly talk about Dr. King without including one of India’s greatest citizens, Mahatma Gandhi.  

Although these two great figures never actually met, Gandhi’s teachings and philosophy, particularly the doctrines of non-violent resistance, service to the community, and social justice, were a huge influence on Dr. King - and through him on the civil rights movement in America.   

Dr. King’s first exposure to Gandhi’s teachings came when he enrolled at Morehouse College in Atlanta, one of America’s leading Historically Black Colleges.   

The then-Principal of Morehouse College was Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, who had visited India and had become a disciple of Gandhi. Mays became a great influence on King, and passed on to him the light of Gandhian principles.  

Though Dr. King never met Gandhi as I mentioned earlier, it was his strong desire to visit India and pay tribute to the man who influenced him deeply. In 1959, his dream of travelling to India came true.  

Though he was only 30 years old at the time, he had already led the Montgomery bus boycott and understood the wisdom and power of the nonviolent protest movement pioneered by the great Mahatma Gandhi. 

Dr. King and his wife Coretta Scott King toured India for a month, studying Gandhi’s philosophy, meeting with Prime Minister Nehru and other Indian leaders in politics, government, academia, and across society. Perhaps more importantly, Dr. King talked with ordinary citizens and young people at every opportunity.  

Dr. King took the lessons he learned back to the United States, and renewed his own faith in the unmatched moral force of nonviolent resistance and its ability to achieve meaningful social change. 

I was privileged to have the opportunity two weeks ago to visit the Gandhi Memorial Museum in Madurai, which Dr.King and his wife visited in January 1959, just a few months after its opening.   

If any of you visit Washington D.C. in the future (and some of you might have already been there), I encourage you to visit the magnificent memorial to Dr. Martin Luther King at the National Mall in Washington DC, where you can read the important inscription, “Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class and our nation.” 

Just like Gandhi, who was very young when he started his fight for freedom, Dr. King was only 26 years old - just a few years older than you all – when he began preaching of tolerance and understanding and at the same time demanding equal rights.  

With the support of countless men and women -- of all races, creeds and colors -- Dr. King led a movement to dismantle the barricades of bigotry and bridge historically bitter divides. But as is the case with all embattled pursuits -- it was not easy.  

Dr. King’s movement was riddled with setbacks and bitter disappointments; and his dream was still not realized even with the passing of landmark legislation in the 1960s in the U.S. to end segregation and discrimination. The United States has made significant progress towards equal rights, but we know we need to continue to work towards Dr. King’s dream as parts of our society are still not fully included and integrated. 

In both of our countries, and in many parts of the world, racism and inequality still persists, which in addition to the suffering it causes the individual, also prevents our nations from reaching our full potential by sidelining certain segments of our society with the resulting loss of their contributions.  

Gandhi’s and Dr. King’s message of love, tolerance and equality, continue to speak to us all, as it is not only universal, but also timeless… just as apt today, as it was decades ago. As Dr. King told us, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”  

When President Barack Obama visited India in November 2010 he noted, “I’ve always found inspiration in the life of Gandhiji and his simple and profound lesson to be the change we seek in the world.  

And just as he summoned Indians to seek their destiny, he influenced champions of equality in my own country, including a young preacher named Martin Luther King.

After making his pilgrimage to India a half-century ago, Dr. King called Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violent resistance “the only logical and moral approach” in the struggle for justice and progress to the solution of the race problem in the United States.” 

Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, but his words continue to echo even today:

“I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” 

So too, our two countries must carry on the goals of Gandhi and Dr. King, to work towards equal opportunity for all our citizens, regardless of race, color, creed, or gender.  

We owe it to our forefathers, and we owe it to our grandchildren. 

And these aspirations are shared by others in the world. Over the last year, the world has witnessed major events in the Middle East in which these country’s citizens rejected authoritarian regimes, demanding an end to lack of freedoms and inequalities in their societies.  

And with the extraordinary global connectivity through internet and social media, we are seeing greater empowerment of the individual and the individual’s ability to engage in and effect national and global change ranging from environmental actions to anti-corruption initiatives, and equality in rights and freedom in actions. 

These were tools that did not exist in the lifetimes of Dr. King and Gandhi who nonetheless were able to both impact their nations and the world. 

The big issues that we confront today are not the problems of a single country, race or gender -- but human problems demanding engagement and activism by all of us as world citizens. 

India will soon be the world’s most populous country and is projected to become the world's third largest economy in 2025. And with these developments and growth, Indian leadership will be sought on the world stage. 

For you, India’s youth of today your country -- and the world -- needs you to aspire to be our leaders of tomorrow and be advocates for social change and justice. 

And in striving toward this goal, we can all learn from the teachings and lives of Dr. King and Gandhi, who showed that the path to social change demands an ethic of public service, a commitment to reconciliation and a spirit of love, sense of justice and belief in mutual respect. 

So, I encourage you to make the most of your time here at Jain University and be engaged not only with your own studies but also contribute to initiatives at the local level that benefit your communities, as well as keeping abreast of the changes and issues facing India and the larger world.     

It’s been truly a pleasure to be able to share my thoughts with you today. 

Thank you!