In N.Y., Clinton Tries To Calm Outrage Over Dr. King Comments

Just weeks away from the New York State primary, Senator Clinton is reaching out to the state’s sizable black community to calm the political waters after making comments about Martin Luther King Jr. that stirred both debate and outrage.“We need to be recommitted to Dr. King’s dream that demanded action, and he gave that action every day of his life until he was taken from us,” Mrs. Clinton said at the Manhattan Center yesterday, at a dual-purpose event aimed at honoring the life of King and at raising awareness of the working conditions of private security officers.In her 20-minute speech, which was met with muted applause and a smattering of boos by the largely African-American audience, Mrs. Clinton did not directly address or seek to clarify her comments suggesting that President Johnson deserved more credit than King for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Mrs. Clinton’s remarks triggered a series of caustic exchanges between her campaign and that of her chief rival, Senator Obama of Illinois.On Sunday, Mrs. Clinton accused the Obama camp of distorting her words and of injecting race into the campaign. Mr. Obama called the accusation “ludicrous.” The fight spilled over into the local news yesterday when, during a television interview with NY1’s “Inside City Hall,” Rep. Charles Rangel called Mr. Obama “absolutely stupid” for attacking Mrs. Clinton.Both candidates have since issued calls for a cease-fire, and Mrs. Clinton aimed for a conciliatory tone at yesterday’s event.Reminiscing to the audience about attending one of Mr. King’s speeches, she said, “I remember hearing him speak when I went with my church into downtown Chicago to see and hear for myself someone who had burst through the stereotypes and the caricatures, who could not be held back by being beaten or gassed or jailed, whose cause was so powerful that he was finally speaking not just to the nation but to the entire world. And I sat there as a young girl transfixed and transformed because the sermon he gave was: ‘Will We Stay Awake Through the Revolution?'”The Manhattan Center event was sponsored and organized by the Service Employees International Union Local 32BJ and 11 Brooklyn churches. Speakers included the Reverend Johnny Ray Youngblood of St. Paul Community Baptist Church, Hazel Dukes of the New York State NAACP, New York City’s comptroller, William Thompson, and Reps. Anthony Weiner and Gregory Meeks.The focus of the event was SEIU’s fight for increased standards for wages, health care, and training for the more than 60,000 private security officers who work in New York City, but it was also a suitable platform for Mrs. Clinton to show her softer side.“How many of us ever could have dreamed that we would have seen the day when a woman and an African American are running for the presidency of the United States of America. That should cause our hearts to leap with joy and celebration,” she said, adding that she and Mr. Obama “may differ on minor matters, but when it comes to what is really important, we are family.”The New York State primary will take place February 5.A number of participants spoken to after the event seemed split on Mrs. Clinton’s overall performance.“Personally, I like Hillary, but after what she said about Lyndon Johnson, I think she is being hypocritical coming here and praising Dr. King,” a 46-year old retired city worker, Christine Stewart, said. “It was a faux pas and with that, you might lose a lot of black votes.”A 50-year old retiree, Muriel Gaither, said she was encouraged that Mrs. Clinton was showing her religious side but said Mrs. Clinton’s comments about President Johnson — as well as President Clinton’s comments last week saying Mr. Obama’s record opposing the Iraq was a “fairy tale” — was troubling to many.“We hear things from the Clintons in a different way because of our relationship with them. So we are a bit more sensitive. I don’t think it has turned us against the Clintons, and we understand what they were trying to say, but some of our members were offended.”

In N.Y., Clinton Tries To Calm Outrage Over Dr. King Comments

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