Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee said America's divisions are spiritual, not political, in his keynote speech Monday at the state's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Interfaith Prayer breakfast.
"We don't have a skin problem. We've got a sin problem," said Huckabee, a Baptist minister and political commentator. "The root sin is pride and racism to the degree which it really exists is the symptom, not the disease. It is not the cause, it is the effect."
Huckabee, who said he spent a semester in seminary studying the late civil-rights leader's sermons, also spoke about King's reference to the Declaration of Independence in the "I Have a Dream" speech.
"Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did not hate America. He loved America and his passion was for America to be who it was supposed to be. We sometimes forget that he just rightfully demanded that it live up to its own documents," he said. "His call was for equality. Not better standards. Equal standards. Same laws, same standards, same opportunities for all, and one of the most powerful things, not just in that one incident but in his whole life was that he urged those who heard him to reject bitterness, anger or spirit of revenge."
Huckabee said calling someone a racist has become a substitute for having a thoughtful, honest discussion or debate.
"Racism has become the default excuse for why a person with a different point of view won't surrender to another point of view. It's lazy. It's empty. And it is a cheap substitute for dealing with the real ills of our civilization," he said.
The choice of Huckabee as the event's keynote speaker drew criticism from some in the state last week, including the Arkansas Democratic Black Caucus saying they would skip the event. In an open letter, the group said Huckabee is not the appropriate speaker because of previous racially insensitive statements.
The caucus also said having Huckabee speak politicized the event, because he is the father of gubernatorial candidate Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who attended the event at the Governor's Mansion. Both are Republicans. The commission is part of the state Department of Education.
Huckabee started off his remarks by briefly nodding to the criticism.
"I'm just honored to be at an event that is without any controversy whatsoever," he quipped, to laughter from the audience.
DuShun Scarbrough, the commission's executive director, said the commission likely wouldn't exist as it does today if not for Huckabee's support for its initial funding.
He added that as governor, Huckabee had created a task force on racial profiling, to which he had appointed a Black civil rights lawyer from his adversary's administration.
The former governor also wrote and passed legislation requiring every police department in the state to have racial and cultural sensitivity training for officers, Scarbrough said.
Scarbrough said earlier in the program that King "issued a clarion call for unity, not division" at the 1963 March on Washington.
"He spoke with a tone of love and he urged us to not hate our oppressors," Scarbrough said. "If we are divided we cannot accomplish what we are supposed to accomplish."
Gov. Asa Hutchinson said King is missed and America could use his counsel today.
Hutchinson touted his creation of the state's Task Force to Advance the State of Law Enforcement, which was formed in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis and amid national calls for racial justice.
He said the task force's findings have resulted in significant changes in Arkansas law, and he had appointed young civil rights activists that he met with in the aftermath of Floyd's killing to the task force.
"That is activism put to use in the right way for the good of our public," Hutchinson said.