Dr. Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr., slammed Democrats for highlighting the racial history of Sen. Jeff Session (R-AL), who has been tapped to fill the position of Attorney General when President-elect Donald Trump administration takes over in January, and urged Americans to be more Christ-like when responding to current political issues.
Speaking to Fox News host Abby Huntsman, King expressed annoyance over the continued misuse of the "race card" throughout this election cycle.
"We here in America have brains; we can think, we can investigate for ourselves," she said. "Playing the race card used to work because nobody could find out the truth behind the matter. Senator Sessions prosecuted the Klu Klux Klan, [he] went and desegregated schools in Alabama - but nobody wants to talk about that, because they want to say he's a racist."
She added, "Throwing the race card against somebody who prosecutes racists it - it does not add up."
When asked why Trump's opponents have "such a hard time moving on and forgiving" Sessions, Dr. King pointed to the story of Alabama Governor George Wallace, who was widely considered "one of the most racist people" in the 1960s for his defense of segregation.
"And yet, through love, through communication and through resisting nonviolently, George Wallace repented," she said. "So that's why, I'm looking at Mr. Trump, even his administration, his choices - you know, what would Jesus do? What can I say that will heal?"
"I'm encouraging Mr. Trump and his picks not to go on the defensive," King added, "but to assert that we want to heal America. We want to work together for America...The media did not prepare us for a Trump win. And so, now we have that. Are we going to keep splintering and dividing? Or, are we going to come together."
Donald Trump's nomination of Senator Jeff Sessions of Alabama as attorney-general
Following the most contentious White House race in recent U.S. history, Dr. King issued a plea for unity, emphasizing that Trump "needs our prayers, not our vitriol".
"The fussing and fuming is hurting our fragile relationships in our homes, our churches and in the marketplace," she wrote in a blog post. "This has been a difficult season for me, testing my faith and my love for God's human family. From the onset of my publicly acknowledged support for the 2016 candidacy of first Dr. Ben Carson and then Mr. Donald Trump, I received angry criticism. So much of it, in fact, that if it hadn't been for God's mercy and forgiveness in my heart, for myself and for my loved ones-friends, family, church members and others-I would have fallen into sin by either striking back at those who don't agree with me or at least trying to defend my position."
Dr. King concluded: "Yet God continues to shine through our 2 Chronicles 7:14 prayers, and we must continue to pray and trust that even in the midst of the Revelation days, God has not abandoned us.
During this 2016 winter holiday season, let those of us who will agree that for Thanksgiving, we will carve the turkey and not each other with our words. Then in repentance and agape love, for Christmas, let us celebrate the birth and gospel of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world."
