- Mar 11, 2015
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On another MLK Day we again see the distortion of his message by those who want to maintain the very thing he was fighting against.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought against white racism. When he made his famous speech in 1963, he said that he wanted his kids to live in a world without white racism. Almost every word Dr. King spoke was in opposition to that same racism. Some Americans need to learn that he was asking whites to stop being racists and that whites start looking at blacks not for the color of our skin but that WHITES begin looking at us for the content of our character. He was not asking blacks to ignore white racism while lying to themselves about being colorblind. His dream was about the end of white racism.
King informed white society of our responsibility to abide by just laws and to disobey or reject unjust ones. None of that involves being quiet or not talking about race, thinking that will make the problem disappear. Indeed,we are to continue taking direct action against unjust laws and policies. Americans on the right love to bring up his philosophy of nonviolence when blacks start speaking in harsh tones. King did advocate nonviolence, but he did not support shut up and take it. His nonviolence plan was about direct action and confrontation. Dr. King’s nonviolence campaign consisted of six steps:
STEP ONE: INFORMATION GATHERING.
STEP TWO: EDUCATE OTHERS.
STEP THREE: PERSONAL COMMITMENT.
STEP FOUR: NEGOTIATIONS.
STEP FIVE: DIRECT ACTION.
STEP SIX: RECONCILIATION.
Martin Luther King Jr,, Six Steps for Nonviolent Direct Action,
None of this involves ignoring the problem, not talking about race, creating false equivalences to provide plausible deniability, or whatever else we see from the right wing whites in this forum.
For those who want to turn Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. into a right-wing house negro, that’s the wrong answer. If anyone today believes that if King were living, he would denounce blacks who hold whites who still practice racism accountable, you are sorely mistaken. If you think King would have sat quietly as young, unarmed blacks are getting murdered by police or that he would not have supported the Black Lives Matter movement, his words speak for themselves:
Where do we go from here? First, we must massively assert our dignity and worth. We must stand up amid a system that still oppresses us and develop an unassailable and majestic sense of values. We must no longer be ashamed of being black.
To offset this cultural homicide, the Negro must rise up with an affirmation of his own Olympian manhood. Any movement for the Negro’s freedom that overlooks this necessity is only waiting to be buried. As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free. Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery. No Lincolnian Emancipation Proclamation, no Johnsonian civil rights bill can totally bring this kind of freedom. The Negro will only be free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive manhood his own emancipation proclamation. And with a spirit straining toward true self-esteem, the Negro must boldly throw off the manacles of self-abnegation and say to himself and to the world, “I am somebody. I am a person. I am a man with dignity and honor. I have a rich and noble history, however painful and exploited that history has been. Yes, I was a slave through my foreparents, and now I’m not ashamed of that. I’m ashamed of the people who were so sinful to make me a slave.” Yes, yes, we must stand up and say, “I’m black, but I’m black and beautiful.” This, this self-affirmation is the black man’s need, made compelling by the white man’s crimes against him.
So on this MLK Day and forever more, if the only words you can recite from King is:
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
every time a black person stands up to hold American whites accountable for continuing racism, do us all a favor and "Pease keep Dr. Kings name out of your mouth!"
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. fought against white racism. When he made his famous speech in 1963, he said that he wanted his kids to live in a world without white racism. Almost every word Dr. King spoke was in opposition to that same racism. Some Americans need to learn that he was asking whites to stop being racists and that whites start looking at blacks not for the color of our skin but that WHITES begin looking at us for the content of our character. He was not asking blacks to ignore white racism while lying to themselves about being colorblind. His dream was about the end of white racism.
King informed white society of our responsibility to abide by just laws and to disobey or reject unjust ones. None of that involves being quiet or not talking about race, thinking that will make the problem disappear. Indeed,we are to continue taking direct action against unjust laws and policies. Americans on the right love to bring up his philosophy of nonviolence when blacks start speaking in harsh tones. King did advocate nonviolence, but he did not support shut up and take it. His nonviolence plan was about direct action and confrontation. Dr. King’s nonviolence campaign consisted of six steps:
STEP ONE: INFORMATION GATHERING.
STEP TWO: EDUCATE OTHERS.
STEP THREE: PERSONAL COMMITMENT.
STEP FOUR: NEGOTIATIONS.
STEP FIVE: DIRECT ACTION.
STEP SIX: RECONCILIATION.
Martin Luther King Jr,, Six Steps for Nonviolent Direct Action,
None of this involves ignoring the problem, not talking about race, creating false equivalences to provide plausible deniability, or whatever else we see from the right wing whites in this forum.
For those who want to turn Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. into a right-wing house negro, that’s the wrong answer. If anyone today believes that if King were living, he would denounce blacks who hold whites who still practice racism accountable, you are sorely mistaken. If you think King would have sat quietly as young, unarmed blacks are getting murdered by police or that he would not have supported the Black Lives Matter movement, his words speak for themselves:
Where do we go from here? First, we must massively assert our dignity and worth. We must stand up amid a system that still oppresses us and develop an unassailable and majestic sense of values. We must no longer be ashamed of being black.
To offset this cultural homicide, the Negro must rise up with an affirmation of his own Olympian manhood. Any movement for the Negro’s freedom that overlooks this necessity is only waiting to be buried. As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free. Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery. No Lincolnian Emancipation Proclamation, no Johnsonian civil rights bill can totally bring this kind of freedom. The Negro will only be free when he reaches down to the inner depths of his own being and signs with the pen and ink of assertive manhood his own emancipation proclamation. And with a spirit straining toward true self-esteem, the Negro must boldly throw off the manacles of self-abnegation and say to himself and to the world, “I am somebody. I am a person. I am a man with dignity and honor. I have a rich and noble history, however painful and exploited that history has been. Yes, I was a slave through my foreparents, and now I’m not ashamed of that. I’m ashamed of the people who were so sinful to make me a slave.” Yes, yes, we must stand up and say, “I’m black, but I’m black and beautiful.” This, this self-affirmation is the black man’s need, made compelling by the white man’s crimes against him.
So on this MLK Day and forever more, if the only words you can recite from King is:
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”
every time a black person stands up to hold American whites accountable for continuing racism, do us all a favor and "Pease keep Dr. Kings name out of your mouth!"
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