You criticized MLK on his b-day? You racist, archie bunker, former grand wizard, uh.. uh.. nazi sympathizer, homophobic, abortion lover, crusader, pro-Franco, conferderate flag waving angry white male!!! sarcasm
That's precisely why I celebrate Ben Franklin's birthday on Jan 17th, instead of the King fraud. He's as phony as Kwanzaa is.
tacky
I've heard that he was born as Michael King. He never formally changed it to MLK, Jr. That person never existed. So we have a bogus holiday to someone who never was. Go figure.
By the same token, you could hardly find a scholar at Harvard whose works weren't plagiarized to some degree. Why is Mr. King to be singled out and pilloried?
There's something about a man with great physical courage and thus great integrity that inspires the enmity of lesser men: the green-eyed monster, I suppose. Mr. Stix doesn't have as much courage in his entire body as MLK had in one fingertip.
A Christian doesn't cast the first stone. Jesus said, there is no greater love than this, that a man should lay down his life for a friend. Until you have MLK's courage, you haven't the right to criticize his petty failings.
But not as important as Barack Obama Day is going to be 50 years from now.
I feel much the same way about Columbus Day (at my house, it's just referred to as mass murderer day). Of course, the blacks seem to feel the same way about President's Day celebrating slave owners like George Washington.
There are always multiple views of any issue. I am not in favor of a day devoted to one person who had a loud voice in a turbulent time - and if the beating of his mistress, etc. is true, I'd equate him with an eloquent version of Mike Tyson. Perhaps the day should have been coined as a celebration of integration?
Thanks for the very interesting, thought-provoking post!
Happy Holidays and seasons greatings. Sorry, political correctness does not allow mentioning the name of a man of the cloth. You know, separation of church and state. :)
I'm not old enought to rememeber Martin Luther King. All that I know is what I learned in publik skool, and what I've learned on my own. Believe me, the two histories are completely different.
What's unfortunate is that 90% of the people only know what the diversity crusaders teach. And, anyone who contradicts them is hateful, bigoted, racist, et al ad infinitum.
IMHO, I think that there are many other African Americans that are far more deserving of a National Holiday. Carver and Douglass come immediately to mind.
Those that are open to new opinions on the subject (hey, maybe he wasn't a saint, after all) and those that would criticize anyone with an opinion that differs from the politically correct.
This thread is pathetic. Sickening.
Let the man have his day. He did give a great speech, and helped his people achieve some measure of equality in those days- would some of you on this thread prefer the "White/Colored" drinking fountains come back?
lol.....you are too brave.
I have not even looked downthread yet.
I love this forum.
Wherever there are great men, there are lesser men lined up to take him down. On the one hand, James Earl Ray. On the other, yourself.
Black Monday??
Were blacks unjustly discriminated against, first through slavery, then through "Jim Crow" laws and other forms of segregation,including denial of the right to vote, and efforts to intimidate them/prevent them from voting even after they had been granted the right...? Undoubtedly all that, and in many cases, worse.
Were all the above sinful, wrong, and morally reprehensible? Absolutely yes! Did it need to change for the greater good of our nation? Again, absolutely yes!
Was ML King a plagiarist, a philanderer, a spouse abuser, paramour abuser, and illegitimately accredited "scholar" who (proveably) willingly and knowingly consorted with Leftist, Socialist, and Communist elements? Ummm - yes absolutely!
That he repeatedly engaged in those behaviours is a foregone conclusion by all but the poorest and most willfully ignorant among scholars. Insistence to the contrary (based upon anything other than emotion) is simply overwhelmed by evidence supporting those contentions.
Have black Americans earned the right in their country to have a prominent black American honored by a holiday? Yes, without question (many among us observe Columbus Day in honor of Cristobal Colon, a Spaniard, St Patrick, an Irish Catholic...)
Why stop there? Let us also honor the Chinese who were instrumental (as Coulee laborers) in building the transcontinental railroad, yet grievously oppressed and discriminated against in society at large.
What about the Italians (Amerigo Vespucci after all, lent an Anglicised version of his name to our country - "America") who were scorned and disdained as "garlic-eaters" and worse on their arrival to the U.S.; shoved into some of the most crowded and squalid tenaments of New York and other cities, and generally looked down upon for most of a generation.
They repaid this disdain by going to war in droves against the Axis powers of WWII (including Italy); at one point 40% of the enlisted men in the US Army were Italian - a record not matched by any other national/ethnic group in US history since the war of 1812 (we were mostly English then.)
What about the now-reviled French? Their military and economic aid enabled a fledgling group of colonial militias to stand against the military superpower of their age in a struggle to rise out of what amounted to indentured servitude to the crown of King George.
Oh, and what about women in the U.S.? they were neither allowed to vote, nor own property for quite a long time in America. How about choosing a suffragette who was a paragon of womanly virtue for recognition? I mean, we have "Mother's Day", but there is also a counterpart "Father's Day"? The gals deserve their day.
Let us not forget a bit of history from long ago, that Egypt enslaved the Israelites for 400 years...
Is anyone getting the point(s) of my "history lesson with attitude"? Every "group" of people who comprise the America of today can offer up arguments for Lionizing someone from among their number. Not every set of accompanying reasons meets the standard of having a significant effect upon the fabric of life in this nation.
Other nations have holidays dedicated to distinguished Kings, Queens, religious persons or festivals, or political reformers, or revolutionaries of their past. We are not as concerned with their criteria, though they are not inapplicable, because we are among the few nations in world history to have had no king or queen in our history as an independent nation.
ML King pushed himself to the forefront of a civil rights movvement that was growing in popularity, and would have certainly succeeded without him. Whether or not he in fact "hijacked" the de facto leadership of that needed and valuable movement is arguable, but he was not the only educated, eloquent black American who had the ability to lead.
There were others of equal, or greater courage; this is inarguable. Had there not been, the civil rights movement would have stalled, foundered, or even deteriorated in their absence.
I have no personal problems with a day set aside to honor a black American. I have many objections to ML King having ever been chosen as that honoree - reasons based upon the "content of his character".
I would alternatively suggest: Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver just to name a few right off the top of my head. Or - how about this for a novel concept - "Black Americans" day, to honor the many worthy achievers who have contributed not only to the advancement of their own race, but also to the betterment of all their fellow citizens.
Hopefully this makes it clear that:
1) I am not a racist of any sort
2) noting towering flaws in the character of a man who focused the debate and discourse over civil rights on the issue of "content of character" is not tantamount to racism.
Had King not been murdered, but rather died of natural causes, I doubt he would have been accorded such an honor. The rarified air of martyrdom status is most likely what elevated him. Even that is not enough for some to maintain their lofty position.
George Washington was our first President, one of the greatest and most inspirational modern generals in the world, an educated, eloquent, temperate statesman and one of our two most significant founding fathers.
Abraham Lincoln came from the most humble beginnings - the epitome of a Horatio Alger story of determination leading to achievement. Sneered at by the landed, wealthy elitist cognoscenti of his day, outperformed in public debate by the renowned and haughty blueblood, Mr. Douglas, this homely, gangling Illinois (Republican!) President surprised all, including his most severe critics as he lead a nation through a horrific uncivil war.
His steadiness alone held the Union together at times, and that steadiness and respect for the fabric of a nation blessed by God was reflected in his Gettysburg Address. Even as President, Lincoln did not think his words would be "long remembered" that day, and journalists of the time paid equal attention to a speech given by another dignitary.
But English teachers and historians today rightly revere the Address as a towering example of brevity, clarity of language, and eloquent historical perspective. Lincoln was later assassinated, of course, a bit of a martyr in no small way.
But that was not enough. Not enough to keep either great man from having his birthday observation consolidated into the mind-numbingly generic, "President's Day".
There is no justice in that whatsoever, and no measure by which Mr King or his accomplishments sufficiently overshadow even one of those two truly GREAT men in U.S. history.
Holidays tend to evolve. We used to have "Arbor Day", "V.E. Day", and "V.J. Day". Now, Veteran's Day, Labor Day, and Memorial Day take their place. Independence Day is still July 4th, Christmas is still Christmas (unless you choose not to observe it, which is your privilege), and likewise Easter. If the Hispanic population grows much larger, we may come under a Liberal compulsion of political correctness to observe "Cinco de Mayo" as a nation.
But when it comes to observing a holiday set aside for an individual in America - we should be a lot more demanding in our standards. That personage BETTER be significant - and have a great deal of "content" to their "character".