Bill Clinton Stresses His Achievements on Behalf of Nation’s Blacks

ATLANTA _ Former President Bill Clinton used the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday on Monday to remind African-Americans of the strides they made during his presidency, which he said was built on the ideals of the slain civil rights leader.

Clinton, who has been making the rounds in the black media recently since race became a heated issue in the campaign for Democratic presidential nomination, said it is because of King that candidates such as his wife, Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y, a woman, and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., an African-American, as well as Republicans, including a Baptist preacher and a Mormon, could have a chance at the White House.

Speaking to more than 2,000 people at the annual King Day commemorative service at the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, Clinton said he was inspired as a teenager by King’s “I Have A Dream” speech. Clinton said his attendance at Monday’s service was not political, but in a political season in which his wife and Obama are in a tight competition for African-American votes, Clinton went out of his way to stress his achievements on behalf of the nation’s blacks.

He sat in the front pew, a few seats from GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee, who earlier in the day received the endorsement of a group of black clergy.

Organizers said Huckabee, a Baptist minister, was not allowed to address the crowd because of a policy prohibiting political candidates from speaking at the service. Clinton, however, was allowed to talk as a former president.

In an unusually frank recitation of his commitment to African-Americans, Clinton said that during his eight years in office, he moved far more people from poverty to the middle class than other administrations.

He reminded African-Americans that he has long been on their side, recalling that he was at the 1963 March on Washington that was led by King, one of the largest political demonstrations in history.

“I went to the Mall. Some of you were there, and we were up to our ankles in mud,” he said.

Clinton said that on the day King died, he got a Red Cross sticker for his car and delivered supplies to the black community in Washington.

“As governor and president, I gave more important positions to women and people of color than all of my predecessors. Not because of me, but because of the influence of Martin Luther King in my life.” Clinton said. “I say that because it’s a constant thing.”

In recent days, the Clintons, who have long had a loyal following among African-Americans, have battled charges that Sen. Clinton had marginalized the role King played in the passage of civil rights legislation.

Sen. Clinton has been criticized by some African-Americans for her statement regarding the leading role that President Lyndon Johnson played in passing that historic legislation. Some African-Americans also were angered that President Clinton recently called political aspects of Obama’s campaign “a fairy tale.”

Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin, who has endorsed Obama, was the first to bring up politics, pointing out that Georgia is on the mind of the next president.

“We are at the cusp of turning the impossible into reality,” Franklin said to loud applause. “This is reality, not fantasy or fairy tales.”

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PHOTOS (from MCT Photo Service, 202-383-6099): CAMPAIGN-KING

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