King family says America needs to focus on helping the poor

ATLANTA - Martin Luther King III says things have not improved much for poor Americans since his father&#39;s death 34 years ago. <br> <br> The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.&#39;s dream of eradicating poverty has become lost among a host of other more narrow issues, King III said last week in an interview with The Associated Press. While problems affecting the poor go unreported, the media focuses on more narrow stories such as the collapse of the energy giant Enron Corp., he said. <br> <br> ``We live in a nation that&#39;s dysfunctionally functional,&#39;&#39; he said. ``As a nation we are functioning every day at a dysfunctional level.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> King III said one of America&#39;s top priorities should be helping the poor. A third or more of the residents in dozens of rural counties in the South and Midwest known as the black belt still live below the poverty level, despite the booming economy in the 1990s. <br> <br> Emory University historian David Garrow, who is often a critic of the King family, agreed that if King Jr. was alive today, he would focus on economic inequality. <br> <br> ``He would think there was very powerful evidence for a significant number of people that things have not improved since 1968,&#39;&#39; Garrow said. <br> <br> Coretta Scott King, King Jr.&#39;s widow, said achieving economic parity should be the next movement, adding that blacks are paid less money for the same work as whites. <br> <br> ``We&#39;re qualified,&#39;&#39; Mrs. King said. ``We work just as hard. Why can&#39;t we be paid?&#39;&#39; <br> <br> King Jr. was born in Atlanta on Jan. 15, 1929 and was murdered on April 5, 1968. He would have turned 73 this past Tuesday. All states and the federal government recognize some sort of civil rights celebration on the third Monday in January. <br> <br> Like last year, King III said people should use King Day as a day of service helping the homeless, donating blood and cleaning up neighborhoods. <br> <br> ``We have to recommit ourselves and finish that work that my father and his team started,&#39;&#39; King III said. ``It&#39;s not a time to celebrate. It&#39;s a time to do work.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Hands on Atlanta offers more than 50 service projects on King Day, including cleaning up the King Historic District, feeding the homeless and teaching children about the civil rights movement. <br> <br> ``In Dr. King&#39;s very own actions, we&#39;re able to see service wasn&#39;t something that he did on the weekends,&#39;&#39; said Malikah Berry of Hands on Atlanta. ``Service was something that he lived.&#39;&#39;