Honoring King means to practice principles, not idolize, according to sociologist

Cedric Taylor said he became a documentarian within his discipline of sociology because of the "power to touch hearts and change minds."

Taylor's documentary about the Flint water crisis, "Nor Any Drop to Drink," served as a base for his presentation in the Kirkhof Center January 22, among the events during Grand Valley's Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Commemoration Week. 

An associate professor of sociology at Central Michigan University, Taylor said King's legacy gives great insight into the reasons behind the water crisis, and romanticizing the civil rights leader as the man who delivered the "I Have a Dream" speech does him a disservice.

Taylor said King laid the groundwork in the 1960s for doing work to combat what sociologists now call environmental racism. And it was environmental racism that led to the water crisis in Flint, he said and cited high poverty rates, a segregated population and an emergency manager who made decisions for the city's leaders and residents.

"It's that mindset that the people don't have the authority or the knowledge of their own experiences, they are too uneducated to know what's best for their families," Taylor said.

He said change in the 1960s and change today comes at a price.

"It's not enough to idolize Dr. King. We need to apply his principles for what he stood for in order to strive for equality," he said. "And equality will come with high risk and it will cost."

The week's events conclude Saturday, January 25, with a day of service for students coordinated by the Community Service Learning Center. Details are online at gvsu.edu/mlk.