NYT columnist and sociologist Tressie McMillan Cottom and scholar Eddie Glaude Jr. reflect on the struggle for civil rights and what it means to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the same day that President Donald Trump is sworn into office. "Perhaps the juxtaposition of seeing Donald Trump preside over the official state memorialization of Martin Luther King will remind us of our responsibility to remembering King as he actually was ... as he was a philosopher, an organizer of the people," Cottom says.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy
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This is Fresh Air. I'm Tanya Mosley. And in a rare convergence of history and politics, today is both Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Inauguration Day. It's only the second time this has happened since MLK Day became a federal holiday.
This juxtaposition of honoring a civil rights icon while swearing in a controversial president creates a stark symbolic contrast, a collision of narratives that raises profound questions about the state of Dr. King's dream in modern America.
Joining me to talk about King's legacy and what it means to have this day shared with Donald Trump is sociologist and New York Times opinion columnist Tressie McMillan Cottom. She's a professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and author of Thick and other essays.
Also joining me is Princeton African-American Studies professor and religion scholar Eddie Glott Jr., who has authored several books, most recently We Are the Leaders We Have Been Waiting For. Both are known for their insightful analysis of race, religion, and politics in the United States. Tressie McMillan Cottom and Eddie Glaude, welcome to Fresh Air. It's a pleasure to be here.
It's a delight to be with you.
You know, Dr. Martin Luther King's daughter, Bernice King, said that she's glad Inauguration Day happens to fall on MLK Day because it means that her dad is still speaking to us. And I want to ask both of you what you're reflecting on as we watch President-elect Donald Trump become the 47th president of the United States. I'll start with you, Tressie.
I'm reflecting on a lot of things this year, which actually surprises me. I have not found Donald Trump's reelection to be a moment that requires a lot of deep personal reflection. Trump and Trumpism is exactly what it looks like. But on the Martin Luther King Day, I am thinking a lot about what has changed because I do think it matters a great deal for us to be clear eyed about such things.
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