MLK's Niece Alveda King Spars With Jesse Jackson Over Occupy Wall Street & Civil Rights

Over the weekend, America learned that the Rev. Jesse Jackson sees similarities between Occupy Wall Street and the nation's civil rights movement. But his comments, which sought to offer support for those individuals who continue to rail against the current capitalist system, also drew the ire of of Martin Luther King Jr.'s niece, Alveda King.

As we reported, Jackson told protestors, “Do not let difficult times break your spirits. In all things, keep your eyes on the prize. Renew your faith, keep your hope alive and victory is assured."

“Only when the foundation shakes does everybody make an adjustment,” he continued. “The people are saying we need economic justice, we need shared economic security. We are free but not equal.”

These comments caused King, the director of Priests for Life African American Outreach, to respond with strong words for the civil rights leader. “I believe that Rev. Jackson is doing a disservice,” King said yesterday on Fox News. “My uncle, the whole [civil rights] movement, was founded in prayer, in crying out to God in a peaceful movement. And this [Occupy] movement is not peaceful."

She continued, claiming that Jackson needs to "revisit his 20th century history."

“They wanted something that would give them solutions, something that would make things better, and what they’re doing now, Rev. Jackson knows that this is not the model that my uncle and my father, Rev. A.D. King, upheld,” she said.

Watch her comments, below:

In addition to making these statements, King went on to claim that she believes that the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is involved in the protests (this is something that the Blaze has explored extensively).

In an interview with Politico, Jackson shot back, claiming that Occupy Wall Street is, indeed, tied to the civil rights movement. “The mass appeal of economic justice [and] economic security is a critical civil rights issue of our time,” he said. “It is a crying out for economic security because the wealth gap, the income gap, the insured gap has gotten so very wide.”

Jackson also went on to say that if Martin Luther King, Jr. were alive today, that he would be among the protestors. “Dr. King planned to occupy the mall in Washington, and planned to engage in civil disobedience to get … Washington to get their priorities straight,” he said.

(H/T: Politico)