Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. On this day, we celebrate, what…exactly?
Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday?
He was born in January 15th and today is the 16 th. I’ve always been one who celebrates birthdays ON the actual day of birth.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is always celebrated on Monday so that government workers can have a day off. After all, they haven’t had a day off in nearly 3 weeks and they must be exhausted.
Is this a celebration of African-Americans who used to be Black after they were Negros in the days of Martin Luther King Jr? That would seem a little…racist…wouldn’t it?
It’s not the sort of holiday where people have family picnics or travel. It doesn’t have a traditional meal like Thanksgiving does. It’s not really full of festive fun for children or marked by church services either.
It’s supposed to be a celebration of the man and the ideals for which he stood.
Today, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, you cannot watch the news without hearing it’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day going into and coming out of each and every break. For God’s sake, they are even giving Martin Luther King Jr. weather updates.
Yes, we all know it’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day and we don’t need to be piously reminded of it by those who don’t really understand WHY it’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day any more than do I.
Now, am I saying we SHOULDN’T have this holiday?
No. We most certainly should but we should have a much better understanding of what it was Martin Luther King Jr. wanted and celebrate the man who shared his dream.
This may come as a shock to some African-Americans, Blacks, Negros out there, but I don’t think King was advocating for what a lot of you seem to think he was.
King never seemed to me to be an entitlement guy. He was for equality but not fake equality. He wanted Negros to have the same opportunities as us white folk did. He wanted Negros to rise above the situation and earn their equality. To build their communities, to strengthen their families and to exceed expectations.
What I DON’T think he was after was entitlements, being given something, anything, based on skin color –and I don’t believe he would have been happy with the state of today’s African-American, Black, Negro community in general.
In perhaps his most well known speech, King said, “But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”
Given THAT, would King today be happy with the New Black Panther Party?
I rather think not.
In that speech, King also said, “I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”
Given THAT, would King today, be happy with an entitlement society? Would King today be pleased with any people, much less his people, being relegated into reliance upon the government?
I rather think not because the American Dream was, and should forever be, the opportunity to work hard, gain an education and make something of one’s self that is better than the generation before.
Allow me one more quote from the famous oration.
“This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”
Trying to interpret a decades old speech is difficult if not dangerous if the one who spoke the words is not here to provide clarity. King would have been 82 years old now but was silenced some 5 years after giving this speech.
To me, in that final quote, King made it clear his dream was that everybody, regardless of color, would find equality at the top, not at the bottom.
Was Martin Luther King Jr. an advocate for the African-American, Black, Negro? Indeed. Was he also the face and voice of the early 1960’s civil rights movement? Of course.
In his absence, others have taken the torch. Would King, today, be please with their efforts?
How many times do we now hear, from people like Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan or Al Sharpton, that the number of Blacks in prison far outweigh the number of whites? They blame it on some sort of inequality within the system of justice.
King, I believe, would have looked deeper. Yes, in some cases, though I believe very few, racial bias plays a role. More often, much more often, I believe it can be attributed to the downfall of the family in Black communities. Black-on-Black crime. Black-on-White crime. Class warfare brought about by envy. Rampant drug use by those in the Black communities who try to take that way out rather then find a way out through opportunity and education.
I believe too many in these communities are looking for government to legislate them out of their self-imposed situation.
While government can legislate equality I submit it is a false equality. True equality comes, I believe, from the hearts and souls of those who seek it and from those who must stop blocking it. Color doesn’t count.
My friend, Stacy Swimp has it right when he says, “There are no permanent boundaries around us that we do not place around ourselves.”
In that, I believe Stacy, much like King, is not just talking to the Black community but all of us.
Of this holiday, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I wonder what King would think?
Again it is difficult and possibly dangerous to speculate but given what he did, the things for which he stood and the ideals to which he aspired, I’m willing to go there.
I believe King would have been flattered though not necessarily pleased.
Having listened, for most of my life, to his recorded voice, I can almost hear him say; Do not celebrate the messenger for 1 day, rather celebrate the message every day. Do not erect a statue of me, rather tear down the walls of self imprisonment within which men and women of all colors can be found. Seize not the entitlements but the opportunities.
King’s ideals, his words and his dream was nothing new nor was it radical. It was 187 years old when he spoke of it in 1963.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.”
The dream was and still is the vision of the founders and regardless of whether or not King would have been happy with a holiday bearing his name, we should celebrate the message he reminded us of and the messenger bold enough to put it in perspective.
Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
Before you go, would you mind also responding to (The rest of this comment has been edited out)
mrsgrone,
Once again, you comprehension seems amiss…I am not going anywhere.
And, once again, from a purely logical and nonpartisan perspective… You make two statements that cannot both be true:
1) I believe too many in these communities are looking for government to legislate them out of their *self-imposed* situation.
2) True equality comes, I believe, from the hearts and souls of those who seek it and from *those who must stop blocking it.*
That which is purely self-imposed cannot also be the result of others intent on “blocking.”
It would seem to me that make a persuasive political argument, you would have to resolve that contradiction.
mrsgrone,
Here is the FULL quote IN context: I believe too many in these communities are looking for government to legislate them out of their self-imposed situation.
While government can legislate equality I submit it is a false equality. True equality comes, I believe, from the hearts and souls of those who seek it and from those who must stop blocking it. Color doesn’t count.
My friend, Stacy Swimp has it right when he says, “There are no permanent boundaries around us that we do not place around ourselves.”
If one, as Swimp points out, puts boundaries around themselves, they are indeed blocking their own advancement and their own equality.
You will notice that at no time in this quote did I use the word “purley” nor did I say “Others” were intent on blocking them. You, mrsgrone, INVENTED the contradiction.
We are done with this conversation as you seem only to want conflict and are more than willing to create it from thin air.
They are both true and valid. For many, the blocking is self imposed.
Ok. Since you have King’s voice ringing in your ears from so many of his speeches, by all means, please quote him (and not Stacy Swimp) on the prison system, on war, on federal versus state’s rights…. and show us where those agree with Goldwater, Nixon, or other major thinkers of the conservatism of the last forty years. Choosing the four word phrase “content of their character” and attempting to extrapolate from it to social problems where we have King’s actual thoughts is worse than erecting a statue of King, for it hollows him into a puppet who speaks with a voice other than his own.
I am truly puzzled by any attempt to reconcile King with the contemporary Republican party. You confuse (even sully) the message of either one or the other in trying to make them compatible. I have no stake in either the Democratic or the Republican party, so your attempt to score points there does not affect me. My only concern is that both conservative thought — and that of King — should be accurately represented to the public. In that task, you have not succeeded.
This is not terribly complicated. Are you saying you differ from Goldwater? That’s all I mean when I reference “modern conservatism.” There’s a clear line of descent from Goldwater through Nixon, Reagan, and Gingrich, whom you support. In his own words, King is arguing for enhanced federal government and against culture of poverty/blame the victim explanations for black misfortune. There’s no way of reconciling that with conservative analysis of race in this country, which is apparent in your insistence that metaphorical “self imprisonment” is holding blacks back (and not the literal prison system) — for just one example. The simple fact is that the modern Republican party, the party of Thurmond, Goldwater, and Nixon arose in reaction against the federal interventions that brought about desegregation. The language of handouts (which you use) and the culture of poverty were popularized by them, by opponents of King. There’s simply no reconciling the two philosophies. In fact, I have no idea why a conservative, Republican (or whatever you prefer to designate yourself) would want to make common cause with a federal government loving, antiwar activist, accused Communist, and accused race-baiter (in the same terms as used against Jackson and Sharpton). It’s truly beyond me. Perhaps you’d care to clarify that thought process.
mrsgrone,
Perhaps a little perspective is in order and since you SEEM not to do your research, allow me to do it for you.
You mention MY insistence that “metaphorical “self imprisonment” is holding blacks back (and not the literal prison system) — ”
I insist nothing. I QUOTE the words of another…Stacy M. Swimp…in the article, “There are no permanent boundaries around us that we do not place around ourselves.” I agree with HIS words.
No then…Who IS Stacy M. Swimp? Stacy is a black man. Stacy grew up in the inner city. Stacy’s family was not rich. As a young man, Stacy made mistakes. Stacy spent some time in jail…not a “metaphorical self imprisonment” but as you put it…a literal prison system. Stacy learned while there that HE was responsible for his situation and HE would have to be the one, when he got out, to improve his OWN situation. He did.
Today, Stacy is a conservative…not that he always was…He started his life as a die hard liberal…but Stacy realized that LIBERALISM…not the color of his skin…was holding him back. He is now a sought after radio personality, has his own show, does regular guest spots on others shows, is an accomplished public speaker, a blogger and an activist.
Stacy Swimp is also a man of God and gives credit where credit is due.
Stacy is also my friend which I am sure is much more an honor for me than him.
Now then…do YOUR research and you will find, as I have, that the party of segregation, the party of Jim Crow, the party of racial division has been and still is, the democrat party. Perhaps you don’t realize of simply refuse to admit who wrote the civil rights laws that were so important to Dr. King. Those laws were written by Eisenhower. Yes, I know they were passed under President Johnson but in doing research you would find that when President Eisenhower attempted to get them passed they were blocked. That’s right, the Civil Rights laws were blocked and blocked by one man…SENATOR Lyndon Johnson.
I grew up in the 60’s, a white kid in a white conservative family in the midwest. My parents had records with Dr. King’s speeches on them and I listened to them over and over again. My folks loved Dr. King…thought him to be a great man whose words meant something great. I was taught from a very early age, by conservatives who voted for Goldwater and Nixon and Ike that skin color was no way to judge someone.
I believed it then and I believe it now.
The content of their character…
There is a difference between writing an article *about* Dr. King and offering readers words you claim you “can almost hear him say.” You’re a poor ventriloquist. We know what King thought of modern conservatism. He’s on record, and I quoted it. No honest person can make him into a supporter of modern American conservatism. There are irreconcilable differences there, which even a small amount of research beyond the I Have a Dream Speech would show. Why else do you think the Republican Party was against honoring him with a national holiday? He’s not a conservative!
mrsgrone,
Nowhere in the article do I use the term “Modern Conservatism” though you seem to want to attribute it to me. It is a false attribution. Not once but twice, i stated it can be dangerous to clarify the words of someone no longer available to clarify for themselves. I am however, a writer of commentary and my views are my opinions and a reflection of how I feel, in this case, about MLK.
The “I can almost hear” paragraph is as follows:
“Having listened, for most of my life, to his recorded voice, I can almost hear him say; Do not celebrate the messenger for 1 day, rather celebrate the message every day. Do not erect a statue of me, rather tear down the walls of self imprisonment within which men and women of all colors can be found. Seize not the entitlements but the opportunities.”
So, if I am as wrong as you claim I am, it would mean that Dr. King would have put himself above his message…Would have rather had a statue of himself erected than having the walls of division torn down…And…Advocated for handouts rather than the opportunities to advance on an even playing field.
I will stand by my assessment of Dr. King.
Rather than twisting King’s words to fit your own assumptions, you might look into what he actually said in his many speeches and writings beyond the I Have a Dream speech.
For example, here is King on Goldwater, the father of modern conservativism:
“For some Americans deluded by myths, the candidacy of a Goldwater seemed a solution for their ills. Essentially he identified big government, radicalism, and bureaucracy as the cause of all evils. Civil rights legislation, in his view, is not a social necessity—it is merely oppressive big government. He ignored the towering presence of discrimination and segregation, but vividly exaggerated crime in the streets. The poverty of the Negroes, he implied, is due to want of ambition and industry. The picture that emerged to delight the racist was that of undeserving, shiftless, criminally dangerous radicals who have manipulated government for their selfish ends, but whose grievances are largely fanciful, and will wither away if left to the states.
—”Negroes Are Not Moving Too Fast”
By all means, advocate any politics you like, but don’t try to dishonestly attach King to them. You should be able to stand or fall without his name.
@ mrsgrone…
I shall take your advice. The next time I write an article about Dr. King…I will be sure to leave his name out of it.
MLK never suggested that 85 percent of “Negros” should be born out of wedlock or that welfare should be the most popular career choice.
Again Craig a good article and one I am reposting! I always enjoy your articles keep up the good work!