I was all set to go to Washington, D.C., this weekend to participate in the rally to commemorate the great speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. Wait, there was more than one rally, wasn't there? Well, I would presume that the rally attended by the niece of Dr. King would be the right one to attend. No, sorry, Dr. King's niece attended the rally hosted by Fox News commentator Glenn Beck. My goodness, how much we've changed since 1963.

While I certainly might have gotten confused about which rally to attend, I can now safely say that the one on my schedule was the one hosted by the Rev. Al Sharpton. On my way to the rally (I had a "triple trip" to New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C.) I met with the Tooth Fairy's demon twin, who put a pain in my mouth so bad that I found myself on the phone with my mama and the nearest oral surgeon. Needless to say, I had to get on a flight to Syracuse to get immediate surgery, which caused me to miss the rally.

The only thing worse than the pain in my tooth was the thought of Beck attempting to align himself with the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Even worse was the idea that Dr. King's niece, Alveda, allowed herself to be used as a tool of the right wing to further bastardize the legacy of her uncle. Alveda was scheduled to speak at Beck's rally this weekend. Seeing her come out and stand next to America's greatest and most persistent remnant of racial division is simply unbelievable. As I mentioned in an article on Friday, Alveda's views are not much different from many African Americans in the church. But expressing her disagreement with Sharpton by standing next to an oppressive figure like Beck is like a George Bush critic standing with Osama Bin Laden. It's one thing to not see eye-to-eye with civil rights leaders, and another to join forces with one of the enemies of civil rights.

Moving on, the message was clear that Beck's rally was not meant to be a righteous display of equity in America. Instead, it was a gimmick and a joke, insulting all those who took the time to attend. Unlike the Rev. Al Sharpton (who deserves to have a platform the same size as Beck's), Beck is not a civil rights leader. He's not a man who stands for the liberties of minorities, the poor or those who have a love for peace. Beck represents the legacy of those who tried to murder Dr. King and beat the civil rights protesters as they fought against racial segregation. Beck doesn't celebrate the first black family in the White House, he insults them and calls their children stupid. He doesn't fight for the oppressed in America, he tells you why they don't deserve the same rights as the rest of us. He doesn't fight to get black men out of prison, he wants to build more prisons to keep them there. By making his bogus attempt at a march on Washington, Glenn Beck has turned the idea of marching into a made-for-TV special brought to you by Walmart.

My belief is that those who truly understand what's happening will see right through Beck's actions. They will also understand that the work of Dr. King has nothing to do with the Tea Party, gay bashing or getting more Republicans in office. The work of Dr. King consists of doing what's right to build a fair and just society. It also involves standing up for those who have no voice, preserving our quest for world peace and fighting for what is right. That is not what you're going to get on Glenn Beck's show.

Now, back to the dentist.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce''s commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.