Clinton’s invocation of King conceded conservative framing that blacks merely need to do better.

Evidence

From black-on-black violence to out-of-wedlock births, Clinton’s political approach, with Dr. King’s implied consent, conceded the terms of debate to conservatives. African Americans simply had to do better. King’s sacrifice demanded as much. Here Clinton’s King is no different from Reagan’s. — Eddie S. Glaude Jr., Democracy in Black, 308