You would call MLK an Uncle Tom.
No I wouldn't. The MLK you racists made up isn't the real King.
Martin Luther King Jr.'s true, radical legacy is being whitewashed by people looking for easy absolution
For white people, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. exists mainly as a mainstream portrayal of a saint of redemption. In this historical interpretation, Dr. King saved both black and white Americans from the evils of segregation, while overcoming the resistance of a few, powerful bigoted individuals with little more than dignified protest and the strength of his convictions.
This Dr. King tells us that hate cannot drive out hate, that we should judge each other on the content of our characters, and that poverty and racism are their own evils. This Dr. King does not think us wrong as long as we do not have hate in our heart, doesn’t want us to dwell on each other’s differences and knows that what hurts white people also hurts black people. This Dr. King does not judge. This Dr. King does not see color. He does not ask for reparations. His solitary request is to act with love.
This incomplete and inconsiderate legacy fuels the agendas of white people across the political spectrum, from open white supremacists to apathetic “allies.” Built from scraps of reality selected from his words and work, this imagined Dr. King does not endorse or exalt — it absolves.
His sentiments of love, peace and unity transform into excuses for indulging hatred, injustice and oppression; loving our enemies becomes a commandment to forgive all trespasses.
It is true that Dr. King did seek, coordinate and give partnership to white communities, speak about equality for all as the solution for the suffering of all and give voice to the redeeming power of love and the tactical strength of non-violence. It is not a false legacy or one that should be ignored or diminished.
But too often the power of that legacy is used by white voices to minimize the systemic violence of racism, sow complacency and resentment at majoritarian sacrifice and to characterize the work of his life as complete rather than abandoned.
Praise for Dr. King highlights a difficult truth: His legacy has become as segregated as the country he tried to heal.
www.nbcnews.com
Nearly a year after his refusal to leave his bed, in August 1967,
King stated plainly “that the vast majority of white Americans are racists, either consciously or unconsciously.”
Eddie Glaude Jr. writes about the seismic shifts in politics 50 years after King’s assassination
time.com