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Current Date: Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:52:03 -0700
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MLK's legacy should inspire social change
The Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday serves as an annual reminder of two of this country’s highest ideals — serving others and the creation of an equitable society. This year, amid the economic turmoil of our country and the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Haiti, the lessons from Dr. King’s life and the message of this holiday provided timely reminders to each of us individually and to society as a whole.
“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom,” King said in 1967.
I include this quote not only as a protest against our continued escalation in military spending nationally, but also to bring this closer to home. I had the opportunity to visit a local middle school last week and saw an environment that echoes more of militarism than of social uplift. Bathrooms locked, lockers taken away, field trips cancelled and as the youth told me, “All because of the crime here.” This punitive environment is the best we can do to serve and empower our next generation of leaders?
And how many other elements of our society can we think of that fit with this theme — more resources poured into punishment and enforcement than in the social services that could prevent the former from being needed. We criminalize addictions, and instead of treating the addicts, we incarcerate them. We continue to see the hospitals in our city chase thousands of citizens into bankruptcy each year instead of creating a system that doesn’t punish people for getting sick.
When I think of the service to our community needed to dismantle such systems, it is something much more than soup kitchen service measured in volunteer hours. Using this analogy, what we need is to find out why people are hungry and why certain groups are disproportionately left without food, rather than simply serving up a hot meal. It requires service that makes us thermometers, not merely thermostats — we must be willing to change the temperature ourselves, facing the opwposition and resistance that status quo and its cadre will bring.
Dr. King is also quoted to have said, “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people but the appalling silence of the good people.”
Yes, some things have changed since the Civil Rights movement. For instance, more wealth has risen from the hands of the masses into the hands of a few, making America less economically equitable than it was in the era of Jim Crow laws and segregated lunch counters. Educational status, health inequities and poverty rates persist disproportionately in the same populations afflicted half a century ago. And while women and minorities have made some strides toward fair wages (when compared to males and whites, respectively), much evidence would suggest stagnation of progress in this realm as well.
The equitable society that King and other social prophets championed comes down to a simple, troubling question: Do we value all citizens, all humans, as equal?
At times, it seems that we are satisfied by simply agreeing that all humans should be treated as equal as opposed to working, crying, sweating, teaching and protesting until this becomes a reality. The extensive inequities in America that distinguish us from the rest of the industrialized world clearly show, regardless of the flowery language used (e.g. “land of opportunity”), that we do not value all lives equally. If we do, we sure have a strange way of showing it in our society.
We must begin to cure the epidemic of individualism in our country if we are to make true strides toward a more equitable society, replacing individual wealth/power/prestige/degrees with an emphasis on systems that promote success collectively. And we must be able to do this without immediately jumping into divisive political debates (our current default), and we should advance the discourse to a more unified focus on change toward equity.
As you enjoy Black History month, do take a day to consider how to strengthen your service and how to more effectively work for equality. Then comes the harder part — to live that change you want to see.
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35 comments
Damian
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What a pathetic and distorted article. Using MLK to mask a mission of egalitarianism is absurd.
We have seen what egalitarianism has already done to other countries so why in the world would we want it here? How stupid do you have to be not to get the lessons of this behavior?
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Because the richest of Americans are getting richer does NOT mean that the poorest are immediately worse off. WEALTH IS CREATED THERE IS NO FINITE amount. When are these social idiots going to get that into their thick skulls?? When wealth is created everyone is (usually) better off and we should promote wealth creation for this very reason—not threaten to confiscate it by force simply because we resent “rich people” or some ridiculous notion that it belongs to everyone.
According to the Census bureau: http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/extended-05.html
The average “poor” American is progressively doing far better for themselves than they did years ago. So whatever one hears about stagnating wages and the like, the bottom line is ultimately what we can afford to buy and have in our households to improve our lives.
The only people that are making things worse for Americans are the idiots in Washington. Until they step out of our lives and allow us to create wealth, create jobs, and create futures, we will only see unemployment stagnate and the poor will be negatively affected. Just as they are now by the current administration. The morons have got to stop assuming that they are not part of the solution but a part of the freakin problem.
Damian
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Oh and please do not use the term “individualism” you have no idea what it means. It is actually hand in hand with capitalism not your egalitarian agenda.
The Ghost
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Here we have a typical statist: hates, the military, thinks the U.S. should be spending more money on illegitimate social programs, and that America is a greedy nation that treads on the poor.
He thinks he has found a quote from a person of honorable repute that vindicates his positions, but has failed to actually interpret the quote for its content.
Dr. King was not anti-military. He even said, “ A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.” What Dr. King was referring to in his quote was that a nation that does not praise the goods of its people and does not recognize its good deeds is on the road to moral corruption and ruin. Members of the statist agenda (Obama and his lackeys) have continually demonized the U.S. as arrogant and a hate-filled country. You do not hear them praise America as the nation that ended slavery, defeated Nazism, Fascism, and Communism, and improving the human condition the around the world.
Dr. King did not espouse equal outcome, he supported equal opportunity and equal protection under the law. If you believe otherwise, then you are not familiar with his writings.
Summerspeaker
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Solid article at an appropriate time.
JD
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Boy, the rich white kids sure hate it when a black man is honored. Even in the simplest way. I don’t know what country you little pricks are living in, but America is a racist country to its core, and imbeciles like you prove it.
Why don’t you all just admit to yourselves and everyone on this site that you hate every one and every thing that is not rich and white like you, and that is your real gripe with this country? Too many non-whites sucking up your precious resources!
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You listen to the hateful, divisive ramblings of the scum of the earth like Rush and Glenn Beck, and you have the nerve to say there is no racism in America?
Clearly there is no point in arguing with that kind of moron logic. Do any of you actually KNOW any people of color? Have you ever asked them what they think about racism in this country? How can you ask them when you don’t know any?
Oh, I know – you CLAIM you aren’t racist, but as we have seen on this and several other posts – white folks think they aren’t racist just because they can say they admire black ATHLETES and ENTERTAINERS (and maybe Colin Powell) – which is really pathetic.
People of color are okay when they dance and sing and shoot hoops for us, right?
But why is it that you never seem to admire people like MLK, Malcolm X, Harriett Tubman, Angela Davis, Frederick Douglass or Medgar Evars?
Not to mention Muhammad Ali (who, granted, is a sports figure, but also one of the first well-known American Muslims as well as a famous pacifist)?
Oh, right – you can only stand the non-threatening negros who don’t talk back to whitey and keep to themselves. But that’s not racism, I know, because rich white kids know all about racism. Heck, you’re the freaking experts!
And why is it that only the whiney little fascist bastards bother to reply to letters on this site? There’s only like 5 of you out there, using various names to make it look like there’s more of you. Don’t you people have something better to do – like burning crosses or bombing churches? Setting fire to homeless people, maybe?
If you actually understood and acknowledged history, you would know that MLK was in fact (God forbid)!) a hard-core pacifist. You can twist the words of this great man to satisfy whatever sick neocon purpose you want, but it won’t prove your “point”.
Poor deluded rich white kids. Your struggle continues.
And I’m sorry to burst your bubble, Damian, but according to the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development:
“Income inequality in the US is now the most extreme of all countries. The 2008 OECD report ‘Income Distribution and Poverty in OECD Countries’ concludes that the US is the country with the highest inequality and poverty rate across the OECD and that since 2000 nowhere has there been such a stark rise in income inequality as in the US. The OECD finds that in the US the distribution of wealth is even more unequal than the distribution of income…”
Contrary to Ayn Rand’s “philosophy”, it is the rich who believe in LIMITLESS INCOME who are the parasites of this world, not the poor. Any rational being can see that.
JD
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Obviously, my post related to the responses to the above letter, not the content of the letter itself, which was nicely done, and I commend Anthony for his insights.
Oh, and one more thing:
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GHOST SAID: “You do not hear them praise America as the nation that ended slavery, defeated Nazism, Fascism, and Communism, and improving the human condition the around the world…”
I must congratulate GHOST for having the political savvy and historical comprehension of a 9-year old. And here I thought you were a college student! Silly me!
Yes, we ended slavery, but I guess there’s no point in bringing up the fact that we also SUPPORTED slavery for a hundred years or so before that…
Yes, we defeated the Nazis, but we also financed them into power and (including the Bush family) even AFTER WWII began.
We have supported and financed some of the most contempuous fascist regimes in history with absolutely no qualms. Go ahead, look it up…
Same with the communists. The globalists in the US and UK financed the Bolsheviks from the very start. Again, you are free to look up these historical facts any time.
As far as improving the human condition…how do you figure, considering how much suffering and injustice there is in the world? All we have done is improve the business environment for US corporations to exploit people around the globe.
But you just go on believing those fairy tales. Reality be damned!
Damian
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Sorry JD, you are too young and naive for an adult conversation. Your intro just says it all:
“Boy, the rich white kids sure hate it when a black man is honored.”
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Googling for arguments shows a lack of ability to reason. It goes goes like this: Google: “us supports fascism” you will recieve petty and disconnected arguments about Bush
(what a surprise) and how we “financed” them into power.
I have faith in you. But first you need to learn how to distinguish these silly websites from actual reality.
Start with: www.wimp.comthegovernment
GO from there.
AJB
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Way to not respond to any points there Damian, and throw in some good old patronage.
Again, go screw yourself. If you want respect, actually respond to points.
slowhike
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MLK was an honorable man, more than anything he was a Christian first and an advocated against racism second. He was an extremely patriotic individual and he reallized and supported the traditional American value system and wanted fair treatment for African Americans. He was not anti-capitalist, he was not anti-military, and he was not an advocate for free health care.
People who hold traditional values and believe in the individual freedom of a capitalist system with small government are not necessarily “rich white kids”.
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MLK is remembered, he has a holiday named after him for his work, but he was not a leftist liberal in the Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Joe Biden fashion. He would never have supported same sex marriage or Islamic Religious zealots in the USA. He advocated for the pursuit of freedom, not big government, he advocated for civil rights not ACORN, he promoted peaceful protest not suicide bombings of innocent civilians, he said the pledge of allegiance and believed strongly in school prayer. He had no dreams of populating border states with illegal immigrants, and he typically included the following religions in his speeches: Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics.
The article is a disgrace to the memory of MLK, and all those who respect MLK and his work should be offended.
AJB
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“he was not anti-military”
Actually, he was. Read your history before posting.
“Since I am a preacher by trade, I suppose it is not surprising that I have seven major reasons for bringing Vietnam into the field of my moral vision. There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I, and others, have been waging in America. A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor — both black and white — through the poverty program. There were experiments, hopes, new beginnings. Then came the buildup in Vietnam and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political plaything of a society gone mad on war, and I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.”
MLK, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.”
As for “He would never have supported same sex marriage or Islamic Religious zealots in the USA.” You have no idea what MLK would or would not have vouched for, but his wife and children probably do. One of his daughters and his wife are/were some of the biggest gay rights activists out there. So unless you have proof that you knew Dr. King better than they did, show it. Otherwise, shut up. As for religious freedom, we all know that MLK was vehemently opposed to religious persecution, so again there is substantial evidence against what you state, and it is you who needs to back up your statements.
As for “he typically included the following religions in his speeches: Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics.” That’s because those were the important religions in America at the time. By the way, what the hell does what religions he talked about have to do with illegal immigration? Most illegal immigrants nowadays are of Latino descent, which, by the way, DOES fit into one of the four religions you spoke of; most Latinos are Catholic, and the largest minority religion among Latinos is Protestantism.
slowhike
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If you can’t admit when you’re wrong AJB, it’s a sad little bit part you play on life’s stage.
Besides thinking that being against the Viet Nam war necessarily makes one “anti-Military”, what other misconceptions are you harboring in the little pin-head of yours?
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The lucid information about the Jews, Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics verbiage that MLK used is not that they used to be popular- MLK was, as you so willingly pointed out- a preacher. What kind of preacher do you think he was? Oh yea -one of those “popular religion Preachers” huh? Does that tell you anything at all Einstein?
Yes most Latinos are catholic, and thankfully there are enough of them in NM to prevent same sex marriage laws ever being passed. I like that.
Ed
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Hmmmm, let’s see Dr. King was a Christian, a Republican and a Constitution respecting American. Yeah, he would really fit in with the current crop of loonies in charge of the country now wouldn’t he?
AJB
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? what the hell are you talking about?
what was I wrong about that I didn’t admit to being wrong about?
If you really want some more MLK quotes against ALL war, and the military’s unfairness to blacks, I’ll get em.
And maybe because I’m not Einstein, I have no idea what you are talking about here “The lucid information about the Jews, Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics verbiage that MLK used is not that they used to be popular- MLK was, as you so willingly pointed out- a preacher. What kind of preacher do you think he was? Oh yea -one of those “popular religion Preachers” huh? Does that tell you anything at all Einstein?”
Or maybe not Einstein, since he wasn’t all that great with working out how to converse with others. Maybe I need to be a psychiatrist?
Anyways, some clarification on what the heck you are saying would be nice.
Need any clarification on my points? I’d be glad to disambiguate anything, I for one like being clear about what I’m trying to say.
AJB
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“It is not out of the question King registered as a Republican. But, according to the King Research Institute at Stanford, no such record exists.”
Byron WIlliams – The Huffington Post
Ed
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HA! huffpo?! yeah that’s a source for ya! Dig deeper asscrack, maybe you’ll find it. As if the loonies want that info widely known.
suzannepark
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Robert
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The best social change we can get is to allow “limitless income”. As a poor person, I want more rich people. Those who want to steal the money of the rich don’t realize that if you earn the money it is yours and no one has a right to it. It does not belong to society but to the individual who earned it. If we can change to this view…there will be a lot fewer problems to solve.
WTF!?
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These comments are disgusting! Dr King was an amazing person and an amazing christian. He believed in the power of love and understanding. It hurts me to see so many people quote him like a bumper sticker on the back of a car just so they can prove their point on how we should continue to separate ourselves from everyone else. That was not what he preached and to portray him in such a light is absolutely disgusting.
This is a great article and i applaud you for making an honest effort to help others Anthony.
AJB
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yeah, WTF!?, that would have been my reaction, but I’ve been reading these forums for a while now, and some of the hate and misrepresentation that gets spewed by some people is disgusting, so I was prepared to be disturbed…
JD
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Damian, since you only bothered to try and refute one of my many points above, I am sending this reply, based on a quick internet search regarding American support of fascist regimes – just for the sake of education. Refining your searches is the key to finding pertinent, unadulterated information on the internet.
These quotes are easily gathered from various websites, by many researchers who know a lot more about this subject than you (or I) do:
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“…A number of prominent and wealthy American businessmen helped to support fascist regimes in Europe from the 1920s through the 1940s. These people helped to support Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War of 1936, as well as Benito Mussolini, and Adolph Hitler. Some of the primary and more famous Americans and companies that were involved with the fascist regimes of Europe are: William Randolph Hearst, Joseph Kennedy (JFK’s father), Charles Lindbergh, John Rockefeller, Andrew Mellon (head of Alcoa, banker, and Secretary of Treasury), DuPont, General Motors, Standard Oil (now Exxon), Ford, ITT, Allen Dulles (later head of the CIA), Prescott Bush, National City Bank, and General Electric. It should be noted that businessmen from many countries, including England and Australia, also worked with the fascist regimes of Europe prior to WWII. The fascist governments were involved in a high level of construction, production, and international business…” END QUOTE
And this, regarding Latin America and the Third World:
“…The United States itself has a long history of imposing oppressive and terrorist regimes in regions of the world within the reach of its power, such as the Caribbean and Central American sugar and banana republics (Trujillo in the Dominican Republic and the Somozas in Nicaragua were long-lived progeny of U.S. intervention and selection). Since World War II. with the great extension of U.S. power, it has borne a heavy responsibility for the spread of a plague of neofascism, state terrorism, torture and repression throughout large parts of the underdeveloped world. The United States has globalized the “banana republic…” END QUOTE
I might also add the documented, direct involvement of the US in the overthrow of democratically elected presidents Jacobo Arbenz (Guatemala, 1954), and Mohammed Mosaddeq, (Iran 1953) just to name two. Both cases resulted in the installation of fascist regimes, supported by the US.
You are the naïve one, my friend.
These are historical facts. Just because you were not aware of them doesn’t mean they aren’t true. I have mentioned before that I am a 47 year old man, and I LIVED through a lot of this history. I have been researching these issues for many years now, so unless your research can refute any of the above statements, I consider this argument won. I can give you a list of sources if you like. I have several books at home on this very subject…
Maybe you could do a bit more research next time.
Dr. King would have forgiven your ignorance, though.
I wish I could say the same…
sam
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White people will always be WHITE people in thought and process…
just like in these forums, They, meaning whites, are bred to believe they are superior to others, even though, by simple reasoning and age (on my part), I found many, to be very, very IGNORANT of other races folkways and morays (and I don’t mean the eels), and lacking in “old school” morals that made this country great.. As a veteran of a “foreign war”, I saw how the US handles it’s endeavor to reconstruct a “foreign” country that it blew to hell and back.. that’s WHY the US is being kicked out of many nations here stateside and overseas..
That’s what I have seen in the past few decades of my life..
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and that’s my opinion.. :P
bbl
Lethargic
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Nature and nuture are both instrumental in the design of a culture or a way of life. A statement like “whites are bred to be superior” is as dense as saying “blacks are bread for basketball and cornbread”. Neither statement is very meaningful or insightful. Making an observation that the US handles its’ endeavors to reconstruct a foreign country….bla bla bla is as you say your opinion Sam. It is also a Value Laden position. I commend you for your military service, however, one would have to take the position that conquering a country is not valueable. I, on the other hand, believe it depends on the country. I have a list of countries that, in my opinion, would be better off under USA rule.
As far as MLK the core issue is that due to Caucasian’s feelings of guilt, remorse and injustice the “good indian” and the “Equal AFrican American” were created. We began to create the “good indian” in Westerns and books and did much the same for African Americans through the same venues but more politics were included.
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There’s no meeting where in the beginning all the races sit down and debate who is going to be the most successful, or any contest that a particular race or religion wins and therefore domninates. Humanity evolved and the cookie crumbled a certain way. It’s not an injustice or an accident that White European people became the race they are today, people are people and shit happens. The best thing, in my opinion, is to quite crying about it and just be the best you can be.
Ed
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HA! sambo is no more a vet than obammy is a competent president. I don’t believe a word of it and judging by his incoherent rantings, he ain’t too bright either.
and jd is, by his own admission, an over the hill schmuck with nothing better to do than crap all over a “student” blog.
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get a life grampies, and go away. don’t go away mad, just go away.
sam
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sounds like advice from a NON-VETERAN to me… Some how, YOU young turds actually think YOU are gonna change this world… ROFL!!
From the looks of many students, like YOU “ED the HEAD” will be nothing more that an OVEREDUCATED, do nothing like many I have worked with or have been around..
So, go back into YOUR closet and get off on YOUR own Methane..
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bbl
Ed
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what’s the matter sambone, hit a nerve? just as I thought, a piece of shit poser; a looser without a clue, or a job it seems. go away, get a job, or take a big bite of a shit sandwich and die.
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