Gov. Rick Scott said creating more jobs and opportunities and leveling the playing field for everyone -- that's the best way to achieve Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of a society where character, not skin color, is the determinant factor.
Speaking from the Governors Mansion Monday night in Tallahassee during a reception to honor King, Scott said the civil rights leaders dream will best be fulfilled by actions, not words.
Its important to do honor to somebody like Martin Luther King, but weve got to leave with a commitment that we make this country better, Scott said.
Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll, the first African-American to be elected to the second-highest office in Florida, praised both King and Scott for giving her the opportunity to break more color barriers.
(Kings) work, his dream, his vision paved the way for me to stand before you and be the first African-American -- and the first female -- lieutenant governor, Carroll said.
Carroll also backed up Scotts characterization of his administrations focus on creating not just equal opportunity, but an abundance of opportunities in the form of more jobs.
The direction the governor and I will be taking this state will be to create those opportunities for those who work hard, she said.
The reception was marked by performances from the Revelation Gospel Choir form the South Side Church of Christ in Orlando, but it was the recitation of Kings I Have a Dream speech by Brendien Mitchell, a 16 year-old junior at Westport High School in Ocala, that held the audience of about 150 people in rapt attention.
Mitchells vigorous rendition of the historic speech, which King made on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28, 1963, left many in tears, including Whitfield Jenkins, the former vice president of the Florida Chapter of the NAACP. Jenkins said the night of Kings assassination in 1968 set him on a lifetime path of working for civil rights.
Every day, from that day to today, its been something saying to me in my mind, Whitfield, you need to do something, Jenkins said.
A Republican until he dropped his party affiliation in 2008 to campaign for then-candidate Barack Obama, Jenkins acknowledged great strides in the civil rights movement in the United States, but said there is progress yet to be attained.
Weve come a long way, were not what we used to be. Today, though, its not just black and white. Today we have all of the other cultures and we have many of the same challenges, Jenkins said.
Attorney General Pam Bondi and Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater also attended the reception and admitted they were a little dismayed at having to follow young Mitchells moving speech.
How do I follow that? Bondi asked after the applause from Mitchells speech subsided.
Atwater noted that Kings I Have a Dream speech merely asked America to live up to its founding documents.
This entire effort is rooted in who we were when we founded ourselves as a nation, Atwater said.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
