(2005-01-17) -- An Amber Alert has been issued nationwide today after the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was reported missing on the very day when millions of Americans planned to observe the slain civil rights leader's birthday.

In Jonesboro, Georgia, authorities monitored a speech Sunday by the Rev. Jesse Jackson, after an informant said Mr. Jackson might be carrying the King legacy. However, during his speech it became clear that the legacy was no longer in Mr. Jackson's possession.

Police have released a description of the legacy in Dr. King's own words from a speech he delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963.

Analysis of the so-called 'I Have a Dream' speech shows that Dr. King was concerned primarily with freedom by means of equal rights and equal justice under the law for everyone.

Forensics experts have been unable to find a match for the King legacy among the words of any of the major American leaders who claim the King mantle.

"The King legacy is so easy to counterfeit and then pass off for personal gain," said one expert. "It's just a small cut to take Dr. King's dream that people 'will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character', and to slice out the 'character' part and leave nothing but empty skin. Equality of opportunity gets falsely transformed into equality of results as a birthright."

The most common counterfeits also lack what experts call the "backbone" of the King legacy -- trust in God.

Dr. King allegedy rested his assertion of equal rights on the passage in the Declaration of Independence that says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

"Without a Creator," said the forensics expert, "the legacy of equal rights collapses into a vicious struggle where the strong prevail and no rights can reasonably be asserted. Dr. King knew there is no basis for equal rights without a loving and righteous creator God."

"The second most common measure employed by counterfeiters is to remove Dr. King's desire to unite the races," the source said. "The genuine legacy pictures Black and White holding hands, eating together, marching together as well as singing and praising God together. The counterfeiters inevitably portray civil rights as a struggle of innocent Black against malevolent White, or caring Democrat against selfish Republican. But the King legacy pitted the justice of God against the injustice of men and foresaw the day when God's victory would benefit Americans of every hue, faith and political stripe."

Indeed, the 'Dream' speech text seems to corroborate this when Dr. King said, "Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred."

A review of the archival audio reveals that the biggest applause line in the 1,619-word speech was as follows: "The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny.

Amid the roar of applause, Dr. King added, "And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone."

Meanwhile, as the search continues for the missing King legacy, Americans are left to struggle with what it all meant.

"The kids are out of school and I have the day off," said one suburban Philadelphia man, "so we're grateful for Dr. King's efforts to free all Americans from education and work. What a great dream."

In related news, the Columbia School of Journalism today holds a panel discussion titled 'Inequality in America." Professional journalists on the panel include Connie Chung, Geraldo Rivera, Charlayne Hunter-Gault, Ed Bradley and Rudi Bakhtiar.