Dick Van Dyke, 98, Who Once Shared Podium with MLK Jr., Makes Rare Appearance to Encourage Voting: 'Hatred Is Not the Norm'

The actor revisited the speech he read at a 1964 civil rights event, saying it "means as much today, if not more than it did then"

Dick Van Dyke took a trip down memory lane to mark Election Day.

The actor, 98, shared a video on Instagram on Monday, Nov. 4 — the day before the presidential election — to encourage his followers to vote for Democrat candidate Kamala Harris.

In the video, the Bye Bye Birdie star revisited a speech, written by The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling, that he delivered on May 31, 1964, at a civil rights event in Los Angeles alongside Martin Luther King Jr.

"50 years ago, May 31st, 1964, I was on the podium with Dr. Martin Luther King, who was addressing some 60,000 people in the Colosseum in LA," he says in the video. "And I was there to read a message written by Rod Serling."

He then said he pulled the speech out "the other day" and thinks it "means as much today, if not more, than it did then."

The actor continued, "So if you don't mind, I'd like to read it."

Van Dyke began to read the speech, which started with, "Hatred is not the norm. Prejudice is not the norm. Suspicion, dislike, jealousy [and] scapegoating, none of those are the transcendent facet of the human personality. They're diseases. They are the cancers of the soul."

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The six-time Emmy winner continued to discourage the negative feelings, saying, "They are the infectious and contagious viruses that have been bleeding humanity for years. And because they have been, and because they are, is it necessary that they shall be? I think not.”

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Speaking optimistically, Van Dyke said, "If there is one voice left to say 'welcome' to a stranger,  if there is one hand outstretched to say 'enter and share,' if there’s one mind remaining to think a thought of warmth and friendship, then there’s a future in which we will find more than one hand, more than one person, more than one mind, dedicated to the cause of man’s equality."

The actor continued: "To those who tell us the inequality of the human animal is a necessary evil, we must respond by simply saying that first, it is evil, but it is not necessary."

Van Dyke concluded his video by looking back on how things have changed over the decades. "1964. A lot has happened, not so much as Martin Luther dreamed of — but it is a start," he said. "Thank you, God bless."

The Mary Poppins star also revisited the speech ahead of the 2016 election. At that time, he shared a photo of the 1964 event and wrote on Facebook, "Headed to the Bernie Sanders rally at the Los Angeles Coliseum. The last time I was there, I was giving a beautifully written speech by Rod Serling along with Martin Luther King on behalf of the Civil Rights Movement."

Related: Dick Van Dyke Seen for First Time After Missing 2024 Emmys, Canceling Convention Appearance

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Van Dyke has been keeping a low profile as of late. In September, he canceled an appearance at the FanX Salt Lake City Comic Convention in Utah days after being absent from the 2024 Emmy Awards, where he was scheduled to be a presenter. He was spotted out running errands in Malibu that same month, not long after winning a Daytime Emmy and watching his birthday special win a Creative Arts Emmy Award.