Some 5,000 people gathered on the National Mall in Washington today for the ceremonial groundbreaking of the Martin Luther King Jr. National Memorial. I was surprised to learn that the project has only raised two-thirds of the money required to build the memorial in the 10 years since President Clinton signed the legislation approving the project.

I have written in the past about the value of the contributions that Dr. King and his wife made to American society. To call MLK a hero is an understatement, at least in my mind. I imagine our world would be very different today were Dr. King still alive, so it is fitting and long overdue that we, as a nation, would honor him on the National Mall.