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Alveda King’s Pro-Life Views Ignite Discussion at Barnard
By Zahra Khimji
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 9, 2007
Pro-life activist and feminist Alveda King, Dr. Martin Luther King’s niece, shared her thoughts about feminism and free love, and offended some students by explaining her pro-life stance at Barnard last night.
The event was chiefly sponsored by Columbia Catholic Undergraduates and various Barnard Alumni.
King opened by showing onlookers a picture of King with her mother that was taken during her campaign for U.S. congress. “I was ... running for congress then and was very feminist,” she said. “I’m still a feminist.”
King displayed more pictures of her family, complemented by explanations of each member and their histories, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
“Tradition is very important in our family and non-violence is a King family tradition,” she said.
King proceeded to explain the 1920’s civil rights movement. Like her uncle, King was very active in her early years as a woman in congress.
“The true mark of a civil rights movement is founded in prayer and the strategy sessions that take place in Church,” King said.
King addressed the controversial topic of abortion, explicitly noting her pro-life position.
“Abortion is not a civil right, it is a violent act that violates the civil rights of an innocent human being,” she said.
King equated abortion to murder. “We don’t have the right to do something to another body. It’s unjust to take a human being and rip it into pieces,” she said.
King discussed the precursors of abortion. “I don’t advocate dating because it leads to sexual misconduct.”
Students raised several questions on youth and their involvement in the pro-life campaign.
Students had mixed reactions to King’s presentation. Katie Fitzgerald, BC ’11, said, “I am someone who is pro-life but I was personally offended by some of the things she had to say.”
Barnard Alumni and organizers Amy DeRosa, BC ’74, and Carol Lavis, BC ’62 said they were pleased with the outcome of the event.
“The objective was to get a pro-life message on to the Barnard and Columbia campus and do it in a positive way,” DeRosa said. “We feel that these people [pro-life activists on campus] need a voice.”
Lavis stressed the need for diversity of opinions on campus. “If we believe in diversity in opinions everyone has to stand up for what they believe in. We feel there’s not enough action on campus.”
Zhara Khimji can be reached at news@columbiaspectator.com.
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The article is silent on what I considered one of the most important aspects of Dr. King's talk, namely the analogy between abortion and crimes against minorities. Not only did Dr. King address crime rates for minorities and Margaret Sanger's eugenics project (advocating abortion to weed out minority populations), -- but she also, significantly, said point-blank that abortion is lynching from the womb. She used the 3/5's Compromise to argue that just as slaves were considered only partially human, so are clumps of tissue in the uterus. And women, no more than slave-owners, have the right to choose what happens to that human life. This is a very strong and controversial statement, and it should have been addressed in the article.
The article is silent on what I considered one of the most important aspects of Dr. King's talk, namely the analogy between abortion and crimes against minorities. Not only did Dr. King address crime rates for minorities and Margaret Sanger's eugenics project (advocating abortion to weed out minority populations), -- but she also, significantly, said point-blank that abortion is lynching from the womb. She used the 3/5's Compromise to argue that just as slaves were considered only partially human, so are clumps of tissue in the uterus. And women, no more than slave-owners, have the right to choose what happens to that human life. This is a very strong and controversial statement, and it should have been addressed in the article.
Thank you to Spectator reporter Zhara Khimji for reporting so aptly on Dr. King's talk (with the note that it is of course the 1960's Civil Rights movement of which King spoke). Alveda King minces no words in telling her own story and weaving in the issues of the 60's including Civil Rights, the non-violence movement, the sexual revolution as well as her own strong family traditions rooted in the Christian faith. Her voice needs to be heard in high schools and colleges, audiences of male and female and black and white. She has a message for all of us. We were privileged to have her on the Barnard campus.
Amy De Rosa
Barnard 1974
Thank you to Spectator reporter Zhara Khimji for reporting so aptly on Dr. King's talk (with the note that it is of course the 1960's Civil Rights movement of which King spoke). Alveda King minces no words in telling her own story and weaving in the issues of the 60's including Civil Rights, the non-violence movement, the sexual revolution as well as her own strong family traditions rooted in the Christian faith. Her voice needs to be heard in high schools and colleges, audiences of male and female and black and white. She has a message for all of us. We were privileged to have her on the Barnard campus.
Amy De Rosa
Barnard 1974
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