MLK’s vision of social justice included religious pluralism – a house of many faiths

Martin Luther King, Jr. leads a group that includes a nun and Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel during the Selma to Montgomery Civil Rights march. Bettmann via Getty Images

The life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have been the subject of ongoing debate ever since his assassination on April 4, 1968.

Today, those invoking King’s memory range from Black Lives Matters organizers and President Joe Biden to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Educators trying to teach Black history call on his principles, even as their opponents claim that lessons about systemic racism go against King’s desire not to judge people “by the color of their skin.”