>>> WE ARE BACK ON "SUNDAY
>>> WE ARE BACK ON "SUNDAY
TODAY" WITH OUR COVERAGE OF THE
ONGOING PROTESTS AND RIOTS
ACROSS THE COUNTRY NEARLY A WEEK
AFTER THE DEATH OF GEORGE FLOYD
IN MINNEAPOLIS.
CONGRESSMAN LEWIS HAS BEEN AT
THE FRONT OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS.
ON SATURDAY, CONGRESSMAN LEWIS
CALLED FOR PEACEFUL PROTESTS
WRITING IN PART, TO THE RIOTERS
IN ATLANTA AND ACROSS THE
COUNTRY.
I SEE YOU.
I KNOW YOUR SENSE OF RAGE, SENSE
OF DESPAIR AND HOPELESSNESS.
JUSTICE HAS, INDEED, BEEN DENIED
FOR TOO LONG.
RIOTING, BURNING AND IS NOT THE
WAY.
SIT-INS, BE CONSTRUCTIVE, NOT
DESTRUCTIVE.
CONGRESSMAN LEWIS WAS A FRIEND
AND CONTEMPORARY OF DR. MARTIN
LUTHER KING JR.
I’M JOINED BY MARTIN LUTHER KING
III.
MR. KING, GOOD MORNING.
WE’RE GRATEFUL TO HAVE YOU ON
WITH US AND GET YOUR
PERSPECTIVE.
YOUR FATHER FAMOUSLY SAID THE
RIOT IS THE LANGUAGE OF THE
UNHEARD.
IT’S A LINE WE’VE HEARD QUITE A
BIT OVER THE LAST WEEK OR SO.
NOT JUSTIFYING BUT EXPLAINING
WHAT WE’RE SEEING IN THESE
STREETS.
AS YOU WATCH THE IMAGES ACROSS
THE COUNTRY, MR. KING, HOW DO
YOU EXPLAIN THEM?
WHAT ARE WE WATCHING IN AMERICA
RIGHT NOW?
>> SO, I DON’T KNOW THAT BEYOND
WHAT WE HAVE HEARD EVERY DAY,
BEYOND WHAT WE ARE SEEING AND
FEELING, THE FRUSTRATION, THE
HUMILIATION, THE INSENSITIVITY.
OVER 50 YEARS AGO WHERE MY
FATHER WAS LEADING A
DEMONSTRATION IN MEMPHIS,
TENNESSEE, AND WHAT HE WAS
LEADING WAS FOR SANITATION
WORKERS TO BE TREATED LIKE MEN.
THEY HAD SIGNS THAT SAID, I AM A
MAN.
50 YEARS LATER, PEOPLE ARE
ASKING JUST FOR DIGNITY AND
RESPECT IN TERMS OF ARRESTING A
HUMAN BEING.
NOT A PERSON ENDING UP DYING.
IF WE SEE THESE INCIDENCE, WE
SEE A VARIETY OF PEOPLE JOINING.
IT’S NOT JUST BLACK PEOPLE.
IT’S BLACK AND WHITE, OLD AND
YOUNG.
AND SO THE ANSWER IS, PEOPLE --
I THINK PEOPLE NEED SOMETHING
VERY QUICKLY, IMMEDIATELY.
FOR EXAMPLE, IN MINNEAPOLIS,
ULTIMATELY THERE MAY BE MORE
CHARGES BROUGHT, BUT ALL OF THE
WORLD WITNESSED A MAN BEING
KILLED.
WE ALL KNOW THIS, IN FRONT OF
OUR EYES.
AND YET IT TOOK THREE OR FOUR
DAYS FOR AN INITIAL ACTION.
WE SAY INITIAL, BUT EVERYONE
THERE WAS COMPLICIT.
SO, WHY DOES THE SYSTEM TAKE SO
LONG TO WORK?
AND REALLY, WHY IS IT NOT
WORKING FOR COMMUNITIES OF COLOR
AND SPECIFICALLY
AFRICAN-AMERICANS?
HOW DOES IT ALWAYS END UP IN A
FATALITY?
THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE.
WE ARE ACTING INHUMANE IN TERMS
OF HOW WE AS A CIVIL SOCIETY ARE
SUPPOSED TO ACT.
YES, PEOPLE’S ACTIONS ARE NOT
THE APPROACH THAT I WOULD WANT
US TO TAKE.
BURNING DOWN OUR NATION IS NOT
THE RIGHT ANSWER.
WHEN YOU DESTROY A BUILDING, AND
THAT IS SO TRAGIC AND SHOULD NOT
HAPPEN, YES, A BUILDING CAN BE
RESTRUCTURED, REDONE, REBUILT,
BUT HOW DO YOU REBUILD A HUMAN
LIFE WHEN A LIFE IS GONE?
YOU CAN’T.
>> RIGHT.
WE’VE SEEN EXTRAORDINARY
LEADERSHIP WHERE YOU ARE,
MR. KING, FROM YOU, FROM THE
MAYOR THERE, FROM THE POLICE
CHIEF THERE, FROM WELL-KNOWN
PEOPLE LIKE KILLER MIKE AND T.I.
AND TYLER PERRY, IMPLORING
PEOPLE NOT TO BURN DOWN THE CITY
OF ATLANTA.
I WONDER AS YOU WATCH THESE
IMAGES WHAT YOU THINK YOUR
FATHER, DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING
JR., WOULD THINK AS HE WATCHES
ALL THIS PLAY OUT?
>> WELL, MY FATHER, I BELIEVE,
AND NONE OF US CAN REALLY SPEAK
FOR HIM, BUT CERTAINLY THROUGH
HIS WORDS, HE ALWAYS HAD
COMPASSION.
SO, COMPASSION WOULD CERTAINLY
BE IN ORDER.
IN FACT, YOU KNOW, I JUST
BELIEVE HAD MY FATHER LIVED, WE
WOULDN’T EVEN BE DEALING WITH
THESE ISSUES.
WE WOULD HAVE RESOLVED THEM BY
NOW.
WE WOULD HAVE A CRIMINAL SYSTEM
THAT’S JUST.
HOW DOES 13% OF THE POPULATION
COMPRISE 60% OF THE JAILS?
THAT IS THE FIRST PROBLEM.
THE WHOLE CRIMINAL SYSTEM IS NOT
JUST.
UNTIL WE GET A SYSTEM -- IT
WORKS IF YOU HAVE MONEY,
PERHAPS, BUT IF YOU DO NOT HAVE
MONEY, AND THERE ARE MANY PEOPLE
WHO DO NOT, THE CRIMINAL SYSTEM
DOES NOT WORK.
IT IS A CRIMINAL SYSTEM, IT IS
NOT, IN MY OPINION, A JUST
SYSTEM FOR EVERYONE.
IT IS JUST FOR SOME BUT NOT FOR
EVERYONE.
THESE ISSUES COULD HAVE BEEN
RESOLVED.
>> YES, SIR.
MARTIN LUTHER KING III.
