"The commemoration of Rev. Dr. King's life, legacy, and message has rarely come at a moment more palpably in need of it. He spoke of two Americas, one 'beautiful of situation' and one of 'daily ugliness,' with the two divided along racial bigotry and resource inequity. That structural schism, that systemic inequity ingrained in our nation from its founding, remains deep.
"Today we see not only the two Americas, but the movements pulling it in two directions. The first is represented by the millions of people who marched for racial justice last summer, the second by the domestic terrorists who last week marched on Washington not to condemn white supremacy but to uphold it.
"The disparate response to these actions- and the attempts to draw moral equivalence between them- show where we are now, how much closer we may be in this moment to the nightmare Dr. King feared than to the dream he envisioned. Yet undoubtedly today we will hear many who seek to sanitize Dr. King's legacy, who misrepresent what he fought for as a revolutionary for a just and equitable society.
"Just one day before terror struck the Capitol, we elected a man to serve there who preached from Rev. Dr. King's pulpit. There have always been two Americas, one empowering the worst of us and one pushing back and fighting for the best. With Dr. King as an example and inspiration, I am committed and proud to be pushing back."