MLK Memorial (Photo credit: Lane 4 Imaging)

By Paul Lewis

Plans to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s “I have a dream” speech are being redrawn in the wake of an angry reaction over the decision to acquit George Zimmerman over the shooting of Trayvon Martin, and a recent decision by the supreme court to strike down key sections of a law that protects black voters.

Senior figures in the civil rights movement have told the Guardian that fast-escalating resentment over the treatment of black Americans will result in larger-than-expected crowds descending on Washington next month for the commemorations off King’s famous address.

Zimmerman’s acquittal and the supreme court ruling on the Voting Rights Act have fuelled a renewed debate over race relations in the US and reinvigorated the civil rights movement. In Washington on Friday, Barack Obama delivered a surprisingly bold speech about the issue.

On Saturday, vigils organise by the veteran civil rights campaigner Al Sharpton will be held across the US to protest against the acquittal of Zimmerman, who shot 17-year-old Martin as he returned home armed with nothing more than a bag of Skittles and a drink from a convenience store.

But the King commemorations in August are likely to be even more pointed. Many believe the Zimmerman case, as well as the recent supreme court ruling on the Voting Rights Act, have demonstrated in stark terms how far America is from realising the dream articulated by King on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963.

Read More Plans for 50th Anniversary of MLK’s March on Washington Revamped After Zimmerman Acquittal | Alternet.