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Show 6 The Daily Utah -- Tuesday, January 19, 1999 Chronicle U.S. Celebrates Martin Luther King Day Tutu: King Helped Wo rid Patricia J. Mays Associated Press Writer ATLANTA From the pulpit where Martin Luther King Jr. once preached, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu gave thanks on Monday to King and all American civil rights leaders he credited with paving the way for the end of apartheid in his country. "We drew enormous courage from your history. That you emerged from the furnace of affliction, the furnace of injustice, the furnace of oppression of slavery, emerged as strong as you have been," he told a packed Ebcnczcr Baptist Church. "You helped us, io.ooo miles away." People across the country celebrated Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday with speeches, sermons and voluntccrism. Last Friday would have been King's 70th birthday. He died April 4, 1968, from an assassin's bullet. Tutu, who teaches at Atlanta's Emory University, observed that America still needs to heal a racial split dividing the country because of lingering wounds from slavery and the Civil War. "God has a dream like Martin Luther King Jr.," said Tutu. "That this community, the wonderful people in this land, will come to realize to say, 'Hey wc arc really members of one family.'...Thcn, just maybe, this great country will be able to say truly, 'Free at last, thank God almighty we're free at last.'" During the service, King's wrdow, Corctta Scott King, presented the 1999 Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize to John Hume, who last year shared the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring peace to Northern Ireland. "Wc believed in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King," Hume said. "Wc believed that true unity among all Irish people was unity of the heart, not unity of the soil." Elsewhere, President Clinton marked the day by visiting a retirement home in Washington as part of an Amcricorps service project. In South Carolina, Gov. Jim Hodges, newly sworn in as the state's first Democratic governor in 12 years, said at a breakfast honoring King that he wants to make King Day a permanent state holiday. It is currently an optional day off for state workers and state offices arc not closed. New Hampshire is the only state that docs not recognize the holiday, although legislation is pending to change the state's Civil Rights Day to a holiday specifically recognizing King. In Wallingford, Conn., St. Paul's Episcopal Church was crammed with 500 people who arrived to sing King's praises. Until this year, the town was the only Connecticut municipality that failed to recognize the holiday. In Maryland, more than 500 people attended a breakfast in King's honor in Annapolis, where attendees were urged to rcdedicate themselves to carry on King's work. In Atlanta, Ebcnezer churchgoers were reminded that discrimination persists, although perhaps not in the ways of the past. "Discrimination with a smile is when a banker looks at you and says, 'I'm sorry you don't qualify for the loan,'" said Andrew Cuomo, secretary of Housing and Urban Development. "Discrimination with a smile is when the employment officer says, 'You don't qualify for this job,' but really he is only looking at the color of your skin." mwm 11 11 w m m Clinton Allies Speak African Americans suspect motives of President's foes ; Some link politics of impeachment to U.S. race relations Michelle Boorstein Associated Press Writer At Martin Luther King Day parades and prayer breakfasts, in their offices and in homes, many blacks said Monday they have a particular stake in the impeachment trial of President Clinton a man described as "the best thing that has happened for blacks in a long time." "If Clinton is removed from office, that's a slap in the face for black America," said Mikel Holt, editor of the Milwaukee Community Journal, a black newspaper. "That's in essence, derailing the civil rights freedom train." Clinton has long enjoyed black support, both from the public and in Congress, because he socializes and prays with black people, appoints them to high positions and understands the struggle of racism, black leaders said. As the trial entered its second week, some summoned the name and message of the slain civil rights leader in Clinton's defense saying the two men shared a common dream of equality. "Dr. King would be suspect of the impeachment process because he would be suspect of the impcachers," the Rev. Jesse Jackson said after a breakfast honoring King in Chicago. Jackson specifically mentioned Senate Majority leader Trent Lott, who was recently linked by his uncle an ultraconservative group accused of promoting white supremacy. Lott denied last week that he was affiliated with the group and said he is opposed to racism and white supremacy. Richard Bailey, a historian and author from Montgomery, Ala., said he, too, was suspect of some of Clinton's critics. "I think (blacks) are most uncomfortable with the way matters are being handled and with the key players," he said. "If the conservative people who are trying to impeach the president come into power, it will be a turnback of the clock for said Edward Lewis Jr., president of the NAACP for Idaho, Nevada and Utah. Any current alternative to Clinton could be worse, said Vicki Washington, director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity at the University of Wisconsin-Extensio- n in Madison, to Wis. "Of all of our presidents in the recent past, Clinton seems to be more in tune with the impact of historic discrimination and how it continues to have both a political and economic impact on African Americans and other people of color today," Washington said. To some, the impeachment itself is being driven by fear of minority power. "My question is, are they really hounding him for his personal transgressions, or (to punish) him for making his administration the most diverse that the country's ever known? That, to me, seems the undertone," said Victoria Mares first vice president of the NAACP in Portland, Maine. Nan Stovall, another NAACP member from Portland, said Clinton is "the best thing that has happened for blacks in a long time." Her-she- Participate in Alternative Spring Break. Spend up to a week in a different city March Engage in community service and learn through experience. Pick up an application today at the Bennion Center, the Student Health Service, or the Alcohol and Drug Education Center. Space is limited. Call today. more reMii; to si xilG jMut Tvvi) uzpAvb 13-2- 0. and CfMmShce seems some things in life iisl aren't me.mt to be convenient, l ot many people, dealing with health insurance is near the top of that list. 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