By Michael Quinn

How do you respond to politicians who oppose a holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr., the American apostle of nonviolence? Answer: You kill them. At least that is the solution offered by red-hot rappers Public Enemy in By the Time I Get to Arizona, a bizarrely backhanded music-video "tribute" to King on the eve of his nationally observed birthday. As King's life work is mocked with lyrics like "Hard as it seems, this ain't no damn dream," the clip depicts P.E. members shooting, poisoning and bombing public officials. While conceding that King "wouldn't like" the video, composer-performer Chuck D suggests that had the Dreamer lived into the '90s, "he might have been Martin Luther King Farrakhan." The strongest criticism has come from Arizonans promoting a King holiday. "It does not help us," says the Rev. Warren Stewart of Phoenix, "and it does a disservice to Dr. King's legacy."