Let freedom ring -- from Stone Mountain of Georgia.

[Beestie]

Happy Birthday, Dr. King.



THE speech.

[elSicomoro]

RIP MLK...

[Beestie]

Sometimes I wonder what certain dead people would be doing if they hadn't died so early. Or, rather, how things might be different.

[Troubleshooter]

I get the feeling that Jesus and Martin Luther King Jr. would be saying the same thing if showed up right now.

I'll paraphrase of course.

"What the fuck are you people doing?! I didn't say that!"

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Troubleshooter

I get the feeling that Jesus and Martin Luther King Jr. would be saying the same thing if showed up right now.

I'll paraphrase of course.

"What the fuck are you people doing?! I didn't say that!"

I just came from the Free Speech in Wartime conference where one of the speakers said just that. He stated that some conservatives take Dr. Kings quote "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." to mean that Dr. King would endorse ending all affirmative action right now.

The speaker made the point that since Dr. King was in favor of reparations, he would probably not be against affirmative action. Parts of the following Dr. King quote were read.

"It is impossible to create a formula for the future which does not take into account that our society has been doing something special against the Negro for hundreds of years. How then can then can he be absorbed into the mainstream of American life if we do not do something special for him now, in order to balance the equation and equip him to compete on a just and equal basis? What will it profit him to be able to send his children to an integrated school if the family income is insufficient to buy them school clothes? What will he gain by being permitted to move into an integrated neighborhood if he cannot afford to do so because he is unemployed or has a low-paying job with no future? In asking for something special, the Negro is not seeking charity. He does not want to languish on welfare rolls any more than the next man. He does not want to be given a job he cannot handle. Neither, however, does he want to be told that there is no place where he can be trained to handle it. Few people consider the fact that, in addition to being enslaved for two centuries, the Negro was, during all those years, robbed of the wages of his toil. No amount of gold could provide an adequate compensation for the exploitation and humiliation of the Negro in America down through the centuries. Not all the wealth of this affluent society could meet the bill. Yet a price can be placed on unpaid wages." (pp. 30 - 31)

"Justice for black people will not flow into society merely from court decisions nor from fountains of political oratory. Nor will a few token change quell all the tempestuous yearning of millions of disadvantaged black people. White America must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society. The comfortable, the entrenched, the privileged cannot continue to tremble at the prospect of change in the status quo. When millions of people have been cheated for centuries, restitution is a costly process. Inferior education, poor housing, unemployment, inadequate health care--each is a bitter component of the oppression that has been our heritage. Each will require billions of dollars to correct. Justice so long deferred has accumulated interest and its cost for this society will be substantial in financial as well as human terms. This fact has not been fully grasped, because most of the gains of the past decade were obtained at bargain rates. The desegregation of public facilities cost nothing; neither did the election and appointment of a few black public officials." (p. 41)

[tw]

Originally Posted by Beestie

Sometimes I wonder what certain dead people would be doing if they hadn't died so early. Or, rather, how things might be different.

One must find and expose a Monica Lewinsky before the person might obtain martyrdom status so that the man does not become a martyr. Did Kennedy do Marilyn Monroe? How many affairs would Martin have conducted for his reputation is sullied? That is not to say only sexual affairs alone destroy a reputation. It says, as these people live longer, then they tend to have less martyrdom appeal.

We only have the tapes of King. His "I have a dream" speech actually did not have the power then that is does today. In part, because only a second half of that speech is so stunning. Video tends to highlight only selective passages.

MLK is indeed a greater man today than he was in real life. But back then we never really understood his underlying principles. It was more difficult to see the one great tree in a forest.

[Schrodinger's Cat]

Originally Posted by tw

One must find and expose a Monica Lewinsky before the person might obtain martyrdom status so that the man does not become a martyr. Did Kennedy do Marilyn Monroe? How many affairs would Martin have conducted for his reputation is sullied? That is not to say only sexual affairs alone destroy a reputation. It says, as these people live longer, then they tend to have less martyrdom appeal.

We only have the tapes of King. His "I have a dream" speech actually did not have the power then that is does today. In part, because only a second half of that speech is so stunning. Video tends to highlight only selective passages.

MLK is indeed a greater man today than he was in real life. But back then we never really understood his underlying principles. It was more difficult to see the one great tree in a forest.

I think there is some intrinsic human need to create something to aspire to. Perhaps those who die too young and too soon are actually doing the rest of us a service. We are spared seeing their "feet of clay" and see, instead, the greater good which they were seeking to achieve.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Very wise observation, cat.

[smoothmoniker]

Cat, that's maybe the most succinct explication of martyrdom I've ever read. well stated.