Harold Ford, Jr. at ODU

Somehow, I missed the announcement that Democratic Leadership Council chair Harold Ford, Jr. was going to be the speaker for the Annual Old Dominion University Martin Luther King Lecture. I ran into someone Monday at another MLK event and was invited to this one.  I’m not much on DLC types but having followed Ford’s 2006 failed Senate bid pretty closely, I decided to attend. And I’m glad I did.

Ford’s entire 33-minute lecture (made without notes, I might add) focused on how the election of President Obama was not the realization of the dream of MLK; in fact, Ford said, it cheapens them both to compare the two.

Ford acknowledged that the election of Obama was historic, but not because of him being the first African American; rather, it was “remarkable” that America would elect a man named Hussein Obama, drawing chuckles from the audience. He said that Obama’s election was almost a predictable outcome. All of our presidents are elected as a response to their predecessors. He then gave a little history lesson on the last few presidents, pointing out that Reagan was a response to Carter, Carter was a response to Nixon. He explained that Bush I was even a response to Reagan, recalling that Reagan had presided over the largest tax increase in history in 1982 and Bush’s “no new taxes” pledge. Clinton, who hadn’t owned a home since entering public service – Ford called it living in public housing – used the “I feel your pain” in response to Bush’s out-of-touch marveling at grocery store electronic scanners.

Obama, he says, is a “mature thinker.” He entered the race two years ago an opponent of the Iraqi war, but his defense team is now, two years later, comprised of people who think our decision to enter the war was the right one. Most of the people on his economic team are people he hasn’t known very long. Ford says that he has to be mobile, has to be willing to adjust. And Obama has done that.

At this point, Ford’s remarks turned to King. King’s dream wasn’t realized by the election of Obama; rather, it will be realized if Obama achieves what he ran on, Ford said. If President Obama can restore our standing in the world, find ways to encourage kids to learn in school, create jobs, get our economy going again or accomplish many of the other things he wants to do, King “will smile” and the dream will be realized.

He wants the president to ask us to give more. Ask young people to do more, ask us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil by buying vehicles with better gas mileage, ask us to buy domestic vehicles to help our ailing auto industry. Ask us all “to pay our share,” not by raising taxes but simply by recognizing those things that are important and acting accordingly. Ford said the call will go out not just to black Americans, but to ALL Americans,  not just to Democrats but to ALL Americans.

Ford was – as I have been – clearly uncomfortable with the emphasis on race. (He even discussed the whole “he hasn’t had the Black American experience” thing.) King, he said, was about ALL people, not just black people. King, he said, would be more excited by Souter and Ginsburg being on the Supreme Court than Clarence Thomas.

In other words, it’s about content of character, not color of skin.

Frankly, I was surprised to hear Ford say these things. (And I doubt if I was alone.) This is the kind of honest discussion that has been lacking throughout this election season. After the lecture, I made my way over to ask Ford why he hadn’t said any of this during the runup to the election. Predictably, Ford said that he’s a team player and couldn’t say anything. (Hmm – wonder if this is part of the reason recording devices were not allowed in the lecture hall?)

Waldo made the point Monday about the “next four (or eight) years will amount to a very public hypocrisy test for thousands.” Looks like it has already started. And that’s a good thing.

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Prior to the lecture, there was a reception with Harold Ford, Jr. (which is when I took the picture above) as well as dinner. Recognized at the dinner was civil rights leader  Dr. Hugo Owens, Sr., a former member of the ODU Board of Visitors and the first black rector of the board, who passed away last year. On hand were Dr. Owens’ three children – Hugo, Jr., Paula and Patrice. Each year, this dinner presents an award to a community leader and the newly renamed Hugo Owens Martin Luther King, Jr. Award was presented to Rev. Anthony Paige (no relation) of Lambert’s Point Baptist Church.