There were school buses parked for as far as my childhood eyes could see. Dad and I were amongst a sea of mostly black faces. The stage seemed a mile away from us. Black movie star Lena Horn took to the microphone. Her speech consisted of heartily yelling one word, but one that drove the crowd wild with delight and applause. “FRREEEDDDOOOOMMMM!!!”

While Dr Martin Luther King, Jr’s speech made history, I was extremely impressed that Ms. Horn could simply utter one word and exit the stage leaving the crowd electrified.

We wore commemorative buttons that day. Dad said I told him, "I’m not taking off this button until we get our freedom.“

Another thing that resonated in my young impressionable brain was MLK saying something about dreaming of a day when little black boys and girls and little white boys and girls would walk together in love. No, those were not MLK’s exact words, but that’s the message I took home. It felt good, honorable and right.

Black civil rights movement pioneers such as Jesse Jackson were entrusted with building upon MLK’s well-intentioned legacy. Tragically, Jackson along with a majority have been seduced by a progressive movement that exploits the legacy of civil rights.

MLK did not sacrifice his life for black empowerment to be reduced to a pawn in a political chess game, used as a weapon to bludgeon white conservatives into submitting to an anti-Christian and anti-America agenda. And yet, that is exactly what has been happening particularly since Obama took up residence in the White House.

Betrayed by its generals, MLK’s once-great civil rights movement has abandoned its mission of black empowerment. It has morphed into the Race Industry. Its sole purpose is to exploit race for political and financial gain. The Race Industry and white liberals are a tag team committed to declaring any and all opposition to anything Obama wants to do as racism against America’s first black president. The Missouri chief of the NAACP even said the rodeo clown who wore an Obama mask was guilty of a hate crime.

So for the first time in US history, Americans are not permitted to criticize, impugn or disagree with their president. Challengers are dealt with swiftly and severely, humiliated and destroyed in the mainstream media.

Professional race exploiters such as Sharpton, Jackson, NAACP and CBC are unchallenged by the mainstream media no matter how outrageous and over-the-top their accusations. For example: Jesse Jackson called Florida an apartheid state because of the not guilty verdict in the Zimmerman trial. And yet, not one person in the mainstream media has said, ‘Jesse, you’re nuts!’

Is Jesse Jackson and the Race Industry representative of MLK’s dream of black and white kids walking together in brotherly love? Absolutely not. Jesse and his ilk only seek power and thirty pieces of silver in exchange for black votes for liberal politicians, while ignoring the interests of black America.

MLK was a Christian and his father was a Republican; both are anathema to a contemporary civil rights movement that has sold its soul to the dark side, embracing no restrictions on abortion, same-sex marriage, government redistribution of wealth, and government controlling every aspect of our lives.

Riding on Obama’s coattails, liberal black politicians are using America’s new hypersensitivity to all things racial to get their way. Want to silence political opposition? Call it racist. That usually makes white conservatives run for the tall grass.

That’s why I find Steve Lonegan’s response to attempts to play the race card extraordinary and refreshing. Lonegan’s opponent is a black liberal Obama sycophant. Keep in mind that Lonegan is legally blind. Thus, his response was brilliant and gutsy. "I have a handicap, you know. I am a white guy running in the state of New Jersey.”

Wow! Folks, I wanted to give Lonegan a man hug. Finally, a white conservative who refuses to be pushed back on his heels and be bullied by the same old liberal tactic. They’re furious at Lonegan. This uppity white boy had better remember his place.

Staying on offense like Lonegan is the only way we are going to save our country, folks. Liberals are never going to back off from accusing conservatives of racism because it works, it’s their most effective weapon.

Thus, the only thing we conservatives can do is change our reaction to their vacant evil lies. We need more courageous conservatives like Steve Lonegan who will not be intimidated or sidetracked, candidates willing to stand up and fight for principles and values that most Americans hold dear.

We also need you to rally around guys like Lonegan; patriots willing to say, “Hang in there brother, we got your back!”

Lloyd Marcus is Chairman of Conservative Campaign Committee | LloydMarcus.com