MLK: A Tale of Two Countries
Here in the United States, we have memorialized one of the greatest Civil Rights icons that this country has ever produced, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., with a national holiday in his name. This fact can be a source of pride and extreme frustration for Black Americans. In this article, I’ll attempt to explain why this is frustrating… from the viewpoint of a black man that’s lived his entire life in the American South.
I have lived in South Mississippi all of my life. In elementary school, I learned about Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Harriett Tubman, George Washington Carver, and a few other select notable Black American individuals from history during Black History Month. Specifically, what I learned about MLK was that he was a preacher, that he fought for the rights of Black Americans using non-violent/peaceful protests, that he was hated by White America for doing so, and that he was ultimately murdered. I never learned about other less palatable figures that were important to Black American History in this country, specific individuals like Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey, Huey Newton, etc.
What I learned about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. not only included what I was actually taught in the classroom but also what I was forced to deduce on my own. Dr. King was a product of his time. He saw a system of injustice and did what he could to address the issues laid bare before him. For that, he was hated by White America, targeted by local, state, and federal government, and ultimately assassinated. During his life, Dr. King was NOT embraced by most of America.
In fact, Dr. King and his family were at times under constant attack from White Americans that despised his fight for equality and the just treatment of ALL Americans (not just Black Americans). Dr. King was arrested around two dozen times for non-violent protests. He and his family subjected to verbal threats and violent attacks, his home was firebombed, and he was even stabbed before being fatally shot.
Now in the 21st Century, in the Year of Our Lord 2023, there will be White Americans quoting and misquoting Dr. King on the day that has been set aside to celebrate his life and his contributions not only to our country but to the world as a whole. Today many White Americans will reference Dr. King when discussing social and political turmoil in this country as an example and in an attempt to silence voices of more moderate and liberal individuals when discussing these topics. The practice is even more egregious when employed against black people.
There have even been instances of people attempting to explain Dr. King’s stance, heritage, and what he ultimately stood for to his own family. In an article titled “MLK’s Daughter Tweeted About His Legacy And Some Dude Of Course Mansplained Her“, Dr. King’s daughter; Bernice King, a civil rights advocate, minister, and CEO of The King Center, used her platform on Twitter to compare the treatment of Colin Kaepernick to that of her father noting that both men were ostracized after peacefully protesting the unjust treatment of black people in America. Another Twitter user then chastised her for tarnishing her own father’s legacy.
History has taught us that usually the majority of society will follow the trends and social norms of the time. The fact that individuals like Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys, have been identified as taking part in racist, oppressive, and unjust behaviors “back in the day” but today seems to be “on board” with diversity makes my point very clear. The fact that the early and mid-part of the 20th century saw the majority of White America fighting to continue “full steam ahead” with segregation, lynchings, and the systematic oppression of Black Americans juxtaposed with the notion that present day, the majority of White Americans now admit that such behaviors are morally reprehensible and would go against social norms.
Social norms. Social norms dictate morality, legality, and what is wholly acceptable during the period of time or generation being considered. The thought of Dr. King being despised by White America while he was alive and used to silence and pacify minority communities in death is frustrating, to say the least. Most White Americans now say that they would have supported Dr. King. I beg to differ. Earlier I mentioned Colin Kaepernick, the former quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers who, in 2016, was black-balled by the NFL and ostracized by a good portion of America for kneeling during the National Anthem in protest of the treatment of Black Americans in the United States.
I argue that Kaepernick’s actions were less “intrusive” and “threatening” to the status quo of his day than Dr. King’s actions were during his lifetime. This leads me to believe that if Dr. King were alive today and took part in the same actions he did during the 1960’s, he would be treated very similarly to how he was treated back then. We must consider that Dr. King was assassinated after the passing of the Civil Rights Act. After the country as a whole supposedly denounced separate but equal, systematic violence against black communities and the unjust murder of Black Americans simply because they wanted to be treated fairly.
The two countries referenced in the title of this article are the United States during the time Dr. King was alive and the present-day United States. The rejection of Dr. King and the ideals for which he fought and died for juxtaposed against his words and teachings being used to silence present-day Americans still striving for those same ideals and ideologies, is highly problematic for me. I can’t seem to wrap my mind around the justification for the latter. Those engaged in such behavior must be suffering from some sort of cognitive dissonance. I’m simply left to wonder if Dr. King’s “Dream” will be achieved during my lifetime or even my children’s lifetime.
