remembering Dr. King
This article from the American Prospect pushes us to remember Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. not simply for those beliefs he held and preached that we are now comfortable with, but also those things that challenged us, that were controversial at the time: from his early opposition to the Vietnam war to his continual calls for radical redistribution of wealth. He spoke passionately against America’s “giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism.”
As a young white liberal, I was raised to understand MLK only in the most simple and inoffensive ways. For me, he was this saintly figure that stood up to racists in the South. Only now am I realizing that he was a much more complicated, and much more important, figure in American history. He wasn’t just preaching against the overt racism of Southerners but also the more insidious and discreet forms of racism and classism in America, including and maybe especially that which permeated white liberal communities.
In fact, the hypocrisy of the liberal establishment continues to this day. Those who speak of improving public education but choose to send their children to private school or won’t give up funding for their suburban public school to help schools from the city that are floundering. Those who say that corporations are hurtful to poor workers but still enjoy the lower prices of Walmart or Starbucks or Nike (to name a few…). Those who speak of mutual sacrifice, as long as they don’t have to give up their BMW. To be clear, I’m as guilty of some of these things as anyone and I don’t expect liberals to give everything away and wear hemp. Even so, we need to do better. We need to acknowledge our faults and struggle with them. We need to gain the perspective that Dr. King tried to bring us, even when it meant looking in the mirror and not being happy.
It’s easy to appreciate when Martin Luther King, Jr. for when he stood up to the Bull Connors of the world. It takes honesty and courage to appreciate Martin Luther King, Jr. for when he stood up to us.
Comments
I completely agree. It’s easy for liberals to hold up ideals, but it’s a lot harder to actually live in a way that matches the rhetoric. I’m also guilty of this– I am more materialistic than I would like to be. It would be great to try to DO one thing every day in the spirit of MLK, Jr. instead of just talking about it. I’d also encourage people to actually spend time tomorrow learning about MLK– read some of his speeches, go to the memorial at Mem Church, volunteer at a homeless shelter, etc. . . It’s hard to really confront the inequality that still exists if you are unwilling to do something different. Also, thanks for continuing to post things with exams and papers. Checking the website is a wonderful way to procrastinate from studying but still learn something.
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