Stop Sanitizing MLK's Message
Perhaps it's no great surprise that Glenn Beck would distort Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s message, as he did when he held a rally for mostly white reactionaries on the 47th anniversary of King's "I Have a Dream" speech in August, all the while suggesting that the group was "reclaiming the civil rights movement." After all, what do you expect from Beck?
But Michelle Obama really should know better.
And since she most certainly does, her message, which I only today received as part of a mass e-mail honoring Martin Luther King Jr. Day, strikes me as particularly disturbing. Even more, it seems indicative of a tendency, many years in the making, for even relatively liberal folks to sanitize the King legacy to a point where it is unrecognizable as the radical gift it truly was.
Read the rest of this op-ed on AOL News.
Thanks as usual to Gina Misiroglu for putting me in touch with the AOL people, which is one of the great ways she's bringing traffic to Red Room and getting attention for Red Room's authors.
About Tim
Tim Wise is among the most prominent anti-racist writers and activists in the U.S., and has been called, "One of the most brilliant, articulate and courageous critics of white privilege in the nation," by best-selling author and professor Michael...
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"Anyone can be great because
"Anyone can be great because anyone can serve," Dr. Martin L King, Jr. He's paraphrasing a quote from the biblical Jesus. To your, "or more," point, if we really serve others rather than become consumed with self-interest, we'll eventually find ourselves in the radical space where Dr. King lived.
But that process can take a long time. It took 100 years after emancipation just to protect the right of blacks' to vote. And nearly 50 years after that . . . well . . . look around.
Like you said, I can understand why Michelle would soften the message. If people were offended by her explaining that she and the president don't allow their daughters to eat a lot of junk food, can you imagine the uproar if she were to stick to the actual message of Dr. King and the Movement at large?
As for the rest of us, who aren't under any political constraint . . . I don't know what to say. I guess if you mix racism and money, we end up where we are today. Beck can declare that our first president of color is racist and stay on TV and radio; but people who speak out against racism in the justice system are "race-hustlers."
I'm familiar with some of the story behind the dissolving of the Movement. Internal disagreements, FBI counter-"insurgency," riots across the country, etc, etc,etc.
But whatever happened to the radical white movement? Where did Weathermen Underground go? What happened to the anti-militarism movement of the 70s?
The comments on this piece
The comments on this piece at AOL News are terrible.
There's over 1000 comments, and easily 80% are raging against "lazy blacks." They appear to be reading into your article, among other things, a call for reparations, a call for collective white guilt, and praise for the Democratic party (there are many posts pointing out that Lincoln and King were Republicans).
Tim, the above comments
Tim, the above comments point out how needed your voice is. I'm challenged. Thanks.