Our nation paused Monday to honor the man who epitomized and galvanized the American Civil Rights Movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The legacy and meaning of King’s work is pretty divergent in America.

Many American blacks view King as a hero, someone whose work literally changed the face of America.

For some whites, particularly some Southern whites, the holiday is mostly just either a day off work or a day when the banks close and the postman doesn’t run.

How would America feel about the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had he been white instead of black?

Would it matter?

Would white America treat the holiday with any more reverence and respect had King been a white man who stood up for blacks?

Probably not, but that likely has more to do with the apathetic heart of America than the color of King’s skin, but it’s an interesting question to ponder.

Many people have questioned whether or not a federal holiday set aside for King’s honor is deserved.

Obviously, no man is perfect. George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and all of America’s founding fathers were flawed humans.

Yet still we revere them for their courage and their drive.

Like them, King was a man, a man with his own flaws just like the rest of us.

But like those founding fathers, King’s greatest trait was that he had the courage and conviction to stand up for what was right — even when the powers that be at the time were doing everything possible to fight him for it.

Does King deserve a holiday? Certainly. But more important, his courage deserves our emulation. Americans should have the courage to stand up against the wrongs of our world today.