MLK - not a joke

[billvon 2,395]

Today we celebrate Martin Luther King and all he did for racial equality.

But it wasn't always this way.  During his life he was vilified by most Americans.  He was doing too much.  He was a communist.  He was hurting more than he was helping.  He just wanted government handouts. MLK: "When we come to Washington in this campaign we’re coming to get our check."

And polls backed this up.  Just before his death, he had an "unfavorable" rating of 63%.  In 1964 he was the second least respected man in America, losing out only to George Wallace the famous segregationist.  Half of white Americans thought he was hurting the Civil Rights movement.  A third said he had brought his assassination upon himself.  Almost half felt no negative emotions about his death.

And yet in hindsight it became clear what he did for the cause of civil rights, and is now rightly celebrated for his work.

I think about this whenever anyone attacks BLM, or the woke movement, or John Lewis, or LGBT organizations, or defends the murder of George Floyd.  Is it just that they don't have the necessary perspective yet on the importance of civil rights?  Do they really see some difference in all those unpopular activists?   

Or is it just that they have not died yet and so society has not yet moved on?  Does progress have more to do with the deaths of the people opposed to civil rights?  I would like to think that's not true, that people can learn and change over the course of their lifetimes.  But I have seen little evidence of that.

[wmw999 2,120]

My father was convinced by MLK that no, progress wasn't fast enough. He'd been thinking it was (having seen the integration of the military, and Brown v. Board), but he said he realized he wasn't the person to judge that.

Wendy P.

[brenthutch 383]

1 hour ago, billvon said:

Today we celebrate Martin Luther King and all he did for racial equality.

But it wasn't always this way.  During his life he was vilified by most Americans.  He was doing too much.  He was a communist.  

I thought he was a Republican.

(not joking I really thought he was a Republican)

[JoeWeber 2,297]

1 hour ago, billvon said:

Today we celebrate Martin Luther King and all he did for racial equality.

But it wasn't always this way.  During his life he was vilified by most Americans.  He was doing too much.  He was a communist.  He was hurting more than he was helping.  He just wanted government handouts. MLK: "When we come to Washington in this campaign we’re coming to get our check."

And polls backed this up.  Just before his death, he had an "unfavorable" rating of 63%.  In 1964 he was the second least respected man in America, losing out only to George Wallace the famous segregationist.  Half of white Americans thought he was hurting the Civil Rights movement.  A third said he had brought his assassination upon himself.  Almost half felt no negative emotions about his death.

And yet in hindsight it became clear what he did for the cause of civil rights, and is now rightly celebrated for his work.

I think about this whenever anyone attacks BLM, or the woke movement, or John Lewis, or LGBT organizations, or defends the murder of George Floyd.  Is it just that they don't have the necessary perspective yet on the importance of civil rights?  Do they really see some difference in all those unpopular activists?   

Or is it just that they have not died yet and so society has not yet moved on?  Does progress have more to do with the deaths of the people opposed to civil rights?  I would like to think that's not true, that people can learn and change over the course of their lifetimes.  But I have seen little evidence of that.

I liked your post with a small disagreement: I have seen more than a little evidence of that. Unfortunately no where near enough to make me believe the fundamentals are changing.

[gowlerk 1,905]

7 minutes ago, JoeWeber said:

I liked your post with a small disagreement: I have seen more than a little evidence of that. Unfortunately no where near enough to make me believe the fundamentals are changing.

People are still people and tribes are still tribes. The decline in the number of lynchings shows that progress is occurring. It is hard to change people but it is possible to change their behavior.

[wmw999 2,120]

8 minutes ago, gowlerk said:

It is hard to change people but it is possible to change their behavior

Yep. And if kids grow up knowing certain behavior is unacceptable, then they are the change. Incremental, but still change

Wendy P  

 

[ryoder 1,381]

Heather Cox Richardson had a good essay on voting rights last night:

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-16-2022

Edited January 17, 2022 by ryoder

[JerryBaumchen 1,047]

35 minutes ago, ryoder said:

Heather Cox Richardson had a good essay voting rights last night:

https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/january-16-2022

Hi Robert,

Ken writes:   It is hard to change people

And, I agree; it is very difficult to change people.

From the article in your link, it looks like Harry Truman 'changed.'

Jerry Baumchen

[BIGUN 1,051]

3 hours ago, billvon said:

Today we celebrate Martin Luther King and all he did for racial equality.

Today we celebrate Martin Luther King and all he did for racial equality. He started a movement which begat numerous other movements for equality; Latinos, LGB, Women . . . In India, there was a sub-population caste from the rest of society and they sang "We shall overcome" as they marched. 

For me, his greatness lie in the day he gave the speech to a mob of 200,000 almost on the verge of a riot, they call in the National Guard, and as he gets about 1/3 of the way through the speech, the crowd begins to quiet and by halfway, they are listening to what he has to say. There's a video somewhere of that day - not just of his speech, but everything that was going on and just how amazing that it all came to a stop.

As for Truman changing; I'd like to believe that when he heard of what happened to his fellow veterans, he got pissed. I'd like to think he thought they were veterans first and blacks second.   

[billvon 2,395]

2 hours ago, JoeWeber said:

I liked your post with a small disagreement: I have seen more than a little evidence of that. Unfortunately no where near enough to make me believe the fundamentals are changing.

That's good to hear.  I hope people really can change.

[brenthutch 383]

1 hour ago, billvon said:

That's good to hear.  I hope people really can change.

Agreed, just like the mayor of SF

https://www.sfgate.com/bay-area-politics/article/London-Breed-crime-Chesa-Boudin-Tenderloin-white-16773098.php

[murps2000 86]

Yeah, he was a republcan. Probably all about the free market I suppose.