As we honor and celebrate the life of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., let us reflect on his message: "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it."

Dr. King walked the talk and was an icon of the civil-rights era as well as being a tireless worker for economic justice and a staunch opponent of U.S. aggression in Vietnam.

King helped to bring about amazing changes in conditions for blacks in this country, particularly with voting rights. In a 1957 speech on the anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision, he said: "But even more, all types of conniving methods are still being used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters. The denial of this sacred right is a tragic betrayal of the highest mandates of our democratic tradition. And so our most urgent request to the president of the United States and every member of Congress is to give us the right to vote."

As a result of pressure from the civil-rights movement, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965. That act and subsequent extensions changed the voting landscape in this nation, particularly in the South. However, as we approach the 40th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, those in power are still finding ways to disenfranchise large numbers of minority voters. For example, in Florida in 2000, more than 40,000 blacks were wrongly purged from the voting lists and illegally denied their right to vote. Florida election officials were aware of the mistakes and did nothing to correct them.

Unfortunately, minorities were again targeted in the 2004 election. Clearly, even though King helped to bring about a tremendous improvement in voting rights for minorities, our election system is still broken. We desperately need a total revamp to protect the rights of all voters, particularly minorities, to cast their ballot and to have it accurately recorded and counted.

King also spoke out about poverty and the need for living-wage jobs. For example, in his July 4, 1965, American Dream sermon, he said:

"This is why we must join the war against poverty and believe in the dignity of all work. ... Give somebody a job and pay them some money so they can live and educate their children and buy a home and have the basic necessities of life. ... I've seen my dream shattered as I've walked the streets of Chicago and seen Negroes, young men and women, with a sense of utter hopelessness because they can't find any jobs. And they see life as a long and desolate corridor with no exit signs. And not only Negroes at this point. I've seen my dream shattered because I've been through Appalachia, and I've seen my white brothers along with Negroes living in poverty. And I'm concerned about white poverty as much as I'm concerned about Negro poverty."

Clearly, we still have not achieved King's dream for economic well-being for all Americans.

Less well-known is King's anti-war position. In one of his most powerful speeches, that at Riverside Church in New York City on April 4, 1967, King spoke out strongly against the U.S. aggression in Vietnam. A few short passages are included here:

"I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today - my own government."

"Now, it should be incandescently clear that no one who has any concern for the integrity and life of America today can ignore the present war. If America's soul becomes totally poisoned, part of the autopsy must read Vietnam. It can never be saved so long as it destroys the deepest hopes of men the world over."

"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."

"I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

These words ring equally true today concerning our failed aggression in Iraq. As a nation, we have learned very little from King's powerful words nor from our own failed foreign policy in Vietnam. Clearly the crimes that King valiantly and heroically struggled against have not gone away. It is up to us to honor the legacy of King by continuing the struggle.

Ron Forthofer is a retired professor of biostatistics and was Green Party candidate for Congress in 2000 and for governor in 2002.

Copyright 2005 The Denver Post

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