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To the Editor:

During President Trump’s recent address before a joint session of Congress, Congressman Al Green courageously stood up to challenge Trump about attempts to cut Medicaid and jeopardize Medicare and Social Security.

In an interview with radio host Charlamagne tha God, Green said that he opposes cuts to the safety net programs that millions of Americans have relied on since the Social Security Act of 1935, signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and the Medicare and Medicaid Act, signed into law by President Lyndon Baines Johnson in 1965.

Although Congressman Green was escorted out by the Sergeant-at-Arms, his strong stand upon a foundation of righteousness still resonates today. By the way, Green has maintained that he is a student of Dr. Martin Luther King’s school of non-violent resistance and civil disobedience such that adherents are expected to defy unjust laws and policies that may be detrimental to the general welfare of the masses.

In the 1960s, Dr. King (MLK) routinely admonished followers to repudiate what he called “stagnant passivity” and “deadening complacency.” In other words, people of good conscience have a moral obligation to speak truth to power, confront racism and discrimination, and respect the decency and dignity of others. In any event, it was shameful that other members of Congress, including the Congressional Black Caucus, chose not to join Green and walk out in protest of the President’s long, mind-boggling speech.

Sadly, ten Democrats voted to censure Mr. Green. Some may recall that South Carolina Republican Congressman Joe Wilson disrespected then President Obama by shouting, “You lie!” at a joint session of Congress in 2009. Similarly, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was blatantly disputatious at last year’s State of the Union highlighted by President Biden. Neither Wilson nor Greene was censured. Hence, this is a case of different strokes for different folks.

Congressman Green calls himself a “liberated Democrat” to distinguish himself from fellow Democrats lacking the spine or backbone to protest injustices within the tradition of Dr. King. Dr. King fondly stated that “there comes a time when silence is betrayal” and “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

In terms of political parties, Dr. King often articulated his distrust of both major political parties. In fact, in a 1958 interview, King said, “I don’t think the Republican Party is a party full of Almighty God, nor is the Democratic Party. They both have their weaknesses.”

Last but not least, we need more elected officials to follow the example set by Congressman Green and, as the Sensational Nightingales and the Georgia Mass Choir used to remind us, we must stand on the promises of God.

Moreover, MLK eloquently asserted, “The ultimate measure of a man in not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Keith W. Cooper

Greenville, NC