“When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was the promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note in so far as her citizens of color are concerned.”

— Martin Luther King Jr, “March on Washington” (1963)

The “fierce urgency” of today’s “now” — another phrase from King — means we must let go our unresolvable, circular arguments about critical race theory.

As in other states, the Kansas Legislature and many local school boards want to ban CRT in the K-12 classroom. The outrage probably stems from a negative reaction to New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones’ “1619 Project,” an in-depth exploration of slavery’s role in settling what became the United States. While “CRT” as such is rarely taught in K-12 schools, it has certainly influenced projects like 1619, which do indeed come with lesson plans for the lower grades. This is controversial, but legislators’ responses have been truly alarming.

For example, Iowa’s new law prohibits teaching anything that makes anyone “feel discomfort, guilt, anguish or any other form of psychological distress” because of one’s race or sex. This will likely prove impossible to enforce and a legal mess. No matter; similar legislation is probably coming here in Kansas.

Slaves did much of the labor building the early United States, while the Native Americans lucky enough to survive at all were displaced from their land, heritage and livelihoods. These are historical facts, not a theory. Yet King still offers us hope. What he did so well is to extract the promise of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence — the belief that we are all equal — from the difficult history. The founders who set these words to paper did not live up to that ideal themselves. Some owned slaves, while others profited from the slave trade. Too often, we try to excuse away these actions by minimizing them, like when Southerners called slavery a “peculiar institution.” King pivoted away from this. Instead, he sought to restore a promise, calling upon us all to pay that promissory note. King celebrated the idea of America, while making redemption the business of all Americans. He called this work “the fierce urgency of now.”

If conservatives will still answer King’s call, they must confront the depth of American racism, past and present, including today’s troubling rise of the so-called alt-right. If progressives are to do the same, they must avoid treating King’s words as mere platitudes. To understand King is to see him as he was: a Baptist preacher, steeped in centuries of Christian and Jewish theology. Many of today’s young progressives have turned away from religion. This is for understandable reasons but, unfortunately, it makes it much harder to understand King’s message as something besides a poster caption.

Our own time brings unique challenges, but our history offers hope. Never mind critical race theory. America still has a promise to redeem.

— Michael A. Smith is a professor of political science at Emporia State University.