On Jan. 20, Donald Trump will again be sworn in as president of the United States and begin his second term in office. The day of his inauguration will be one of irony for others, as it falls on the Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) federal holiday this year.
Inauguration Day has taken place on Jan. 20 since 1937 following the ratification of the 20th Amendment. The MLK holiday honoring the revered civil rights leader takes place on the third Monday of each January and was first observed in 1986. Since then, MLK Day has coincided with only two previous presidential inaugurations: Bill Clinton’s second term in 1997 and Barack Obama’s second term in 2013.
On day one of his second term, Trump is expected to sign several executive orders and directives in relation to the U.S.-Mexico border, including giving immigration officers more leeway to arrest people with no criminal records, increasing the number of troops and restarting construction on the border wall.
Trump has also said he plans to end birthright citizenship, which gives U.S. citizenship to anyone born in the country, and strip federal funds from schools that teach critical race theory – a set of ideas that racial bias is embedded in laws, policies and institutions that uphold and reproduce racial inequalities.
For a day meant to honor the legacy of a man who preached nonviolent activism and was one of the central figures of the Civil Rights Movement, political and community activists have noted how ironic it is for a divisive figure like Trump to be sworn in on the same day.
“Everything MLK stood for – civil justice, loving other people – Trump is the polar opposite,” said Najee Ali, senior organizer with Los Angeles Metropolitan Churches. “We’ve heard him state publicly that he intends to seek retribution against his perceived enemies, as well as his announcement that he’s going to continue to have the largest mass deportation [policy] in American history, which ultimately does nothing but divide families.”
Earl Ofari Hutchinson, president of the LA Urban Policy Roundtable, echoed Ali’s sentiments, saying that what King Jr. worked to eliminate – racial, social, gender and same-sex division – is the exact opposite of what Trump represents. Although Hutchinson knows the days coinciding is out of anyone’s control, he still believes that it’s not only an irony but an insult.
“It doesn’t make any difference whether it was planned or a coincidence … it’s a mockery,” Hutchinson said. “The other thing is, you can bet your bottom dollar Trump, being Trump, is going to tie himself into the legacy of Dr. King somehow to give the impression that Dr. King would have been on board with him. … I would not be at all surprised.”
Nonetheless, they still plan to celebrate the day and honor King Jr.’s legacy and dream of racial equality. Aside from participating in the 40th Annual Kingdom Day Parade in LA on Jan. 18, Ali told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol that the LA Metropolitan Churches are planning for two major press conferences in the next few days.
The first is planned for Tuesday, Jan. 14, outside Beverly Hills City Hall to call for Attorney General Rob Bonta to launch an investigation into Beverly Hills High School and claims by Black students and staff that they’ve been the victims of racism and potential violence.
In November 2024, there was a pro-Trump rally by students following the president-elect’s victory. Ali claimed that Black students and staff were called the N-word and monkeys by the demonstrators, who also tried to enter a locked room where the Black student union was being held.
The second news conference he said, will take place the next day, on MLK’s birthday, outside the headquarters of the LA Unified School District (LAUSD) to demand that the upcoming Trump administration launch an investigation into the district following “racist attacks” against Black students and staff.
Ali also pointed to the attack on 13-year-old Sal’Vyion “Sal” Torres in December 2024. Sal said he was assaulted by a white adult at Ernest Lawrence Middle School in Chatsworth. The assailant reportedly rushed at the teen, grabbed him by the neck, threw him face down on the ground, folded his arm and put his knee on the back of his neck. During the assault, the adult hurled racial slurs, including the N-word, at the teen.
A lawsuit has been filed in that case. According to Ali, the suspect in the attack, John Morreale, was arrested on Monday, Jan. 6.
“We’re trying to do things, not just on that day [MLK Day], but actually beforehand to draw attention to everything Dr. King stood and died for,” Ali said. “While the parade is an important celebration of Dr. King’s life and legacy, what we believe is more important is the press conferences drawing attention to … what Dr. King actually did in his life, and that was fighting for civil rights and social justice.”
The LA Urban Policy Roundtable will hold gatherings and commemoration events, Hutchinson said, not only on MLK Jr.’s birthday but also on the day of his death in April. They’ll hold a commemoration in Leimert Park in LA to honor not only King Jr., but Celes King III, another civil rights leader who has his own monument in the city.
If there was any semblance of a silver lining, Hutchinson said that these two events taking place on the same day will put even more attention on King Jr. and his ideals and will remind people of what he died for.
In what he said is another bit of irony, Hutchinson brought up what he considers to be King Jr.’s greatest book – “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?” – and how appropriate the question is when talking about King Jr. and Trump.
“I think that was the compelling question when King wrote it, and that was over half a century ago, and it’s certainly even more now with the election of Donald Trump,” he said. “It’s all very timely. It all comes together, and I think in some ways, it also could be very energizing for people, too, moving forward.”
America, love it or leave it.
America. Love it and try to make it better.
You mean love the way you perceive it or leave it? Agree with the current individual in power or leave it? Because that changes relatively frequently. How does one support less government, but touts “agree with the government or leave?” I’m pretty sure the majority of individuals agree that there are problems with this country they don’t agree with, sooo that would be nearly everyone who would leave with that perspective. Gene, you truly got the low end of the pool.
What part of the 20th Amendment don’t these Black Activists understand:
The terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January, and the terms of Senators and Representatives at noon on the 3d day of January, of the years in which such terms would have ended if this article had not been ratified; and the terms of their successors shall then begin.