Remembering the radical equality of dr. martin luther king, jr.

What legacy of Dr. King will you celebrate today?

Will it be the easy comfort of his dream? Or will it be the more difficult tension that he (and justice) ask of us?

If it’s the dream, you’re not alone. Whitewashing King’s legacy is as American as patting ourselves on the backs for establishing a holiday celebrating the death of a Black man whom most Americans hated when he was alive.

King’s dream in ’63 was steadily eroded by the time of his death in ’68. But even in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, just about 5 years  before his assassination, he recognized the threat that well-meaning white people posed to racial equality.

“I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”

Not exactly a palatable message to many white people who, even today, would like to pretend that racism doesn’t exist.

During his life a majority of white Americans disapproved of Dr. King

While today,  King is a beloved icon, almost 75% of Americans disapproved of him during his  lifetime. Today, across racial groups people credit King’s leadership as fundamental in their own struggles overcoming racism and their understanding of racial inequality but schools rarely teach about his economic and and anti-militarism beliefs.

If he were marching today, saying things like, “I think for the ultimate peace and security of the situation it will probably be necessary for Israel to give up this conquered territory because to hold on to it will only exacerbate the tensions and deepen the bitterness of the Arabs” he’d be shouted down.

Even today his legacy is largely dependent on two things:  partisanship and selective reality. While a majority of people view  King’s impact on the US in a favorable or very favorable way, almost ¼ of Republicans don’t. Given the rise in white nationalism, that should be something we highlight in discussions about King.

Whitewashing Dr. King’s Legacy

There  is a long history of de-radicalizing King’s message of inequality by whitewashing his legacy to be palatable for people who like the non-violent stuff but don’t want to change the power structure. As you’re sharing  quote about King’s dream of equality today, remember his quotes on  the  three evil: capitalism, militarism, and racism. 

King wasn’t naïve enough to think that brotherhood alone would  produce change in a power structure that has inequality baked into its bones. Racism and economic inequality have always been twin evils, reinforcing each other as  a way for both to stay alive. There is a strong history of white power brokers breaking up racial solidarity among union workers from at least the 1800s (why white people keep falling for this line is a whole dissertation’s worth of interesting questions, or you could just read Stamped from the Beginning).  King was  killed while supporting a labor union.

And of course, King spoke eloquently about the need for structural and policy reforms like health care equity, housing, and education. And if you don’t know about the Poor People’s Campaign the occupied the National Mall for a while, you should check that out.

All of this is to say, celebrate the man and the legacy. But continue the work, for we still have miles to go before we sleep.