Dr. Julianne Malveaux, a nationally recognized economist, writer and social activist, gave the keynote speech Monday during the Martin Luther King Jr. Day events at the Hult Center.
Her speech, given to a crowd of about 400 people in the Soreng Theater, detailed how achieving diversity is only a small part of what needs to be done to create economic justice.
“Minorities can make or break corporations,” Malveaux said. “If we choose not to eat this, smoke this, buy this — we have the control.”
The evening’s celebration, hosted by the Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration Committee, was the end to a day of events, including a march honoring King. The celebration included several selections sung by the University’s Gospel Choir, a presentation of awards, a dance performance, a speech by Mayor Jim Torrey and the keynote address given by Malveaux.
Malveaux’s speech was based on the night’s theme: “The Economic Case for Diversity in the New Millennium.”
“We tend to focus on the softer, fuzzier part of Dr. King’s message,” Malveaux said. “But King was a critic of capitalism as we know it.”
Malveaux said King’s economic messages back in the 1960s are something people need to apply to today’s economy.
“We can have the illusion that everyone is OK and economically stable, but they’re not,” Malveaux said. “Diversity is important, but it won’t change the way wealth is distributed.”
Malveaux said that in order to further the message that King stood for, people need to stand together against corporations and government factions that continue to discriminate and turn the civil rights movement backwards.
“Our expanded economy has allowed us to adjust ourselves to inequality,” Malveaux said. “Corporations are able to use demographic change against minorities. They just want your money, so they will focus on minorities because of this, instead of trying to increase diversity.”
Audience member Roy Samuels said Malveaux’s speech was a real “eye opener” for him.
“I never realized how white, corporate America uses discrimination in reverse,” Samuels said. “They act as if they are trying to eliminate discrimination when they are just using a different form of it.”
Malveaux argued that discrimination still largely exists in the workplace, with 96 percent of upper managers being white males.
She also touched on issues such as the upcoming Bush administration’s effect on economic justice, the conditions of prisoners in America and the need of Americans to address the rising number of poor people.
“I’m a political junkie, and I believe we all have to lift our voices against injustices,” Malveaux said.
Audience response to Malveaux’s speech, and the evening’s festivities, was positive overall.
“It made me realize that diversity is just the starting point towards greater justice,” audience member Scott Franzen said.
Malveaux said it’s not just the holiday celebrating King that is important, it’s what people take from it for the rest of the year.