The dedication of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on Sunday was used by President Obama and other speakers to transform King’s 1960s message of equality among the races into a politically charged call for economic and social equality.

“[King] tells us that we have a duty to fight against poverty, even if we arewell off; to care about the child in the decrepit school even if our own children are doing fine; to show compassion toward the immigrant family, with the knowledge that most of us are only a fewgenerations removed from similar hardships,” Obama said.