What Does a Conservative Do on Martin Luther King Day?

The Claremont Institute ^ | January 17, 2005 | Ken Masugi

[Stoat]

What Does a Conservative Do on Martin Luther King Day?

 

How should conservatives celebrate Martin Luther King Day? We can honor the high-minded, patriotic side of King, who spoke of the American Dream, of a color-blind society that evaluates people on “the content of their character.” That would truly be an aristocracy of merit, a conservative idea if there ever was one. This King was the one calling us back to the ideals of the American Founding and reminding us that its legacy was not fully enjoyed by all. In this view, the Civil Rights Revolution, for which he became the principal (though by no means sole) spokesman, flowed from the American Revolution and completed the constitutionalism demanded by it. This King revived regard for the fundamental institutions of this country, cruelly and unjustly denied by a faction. Shelby Steele brings out this King most admirably.

But there is the other King conservatives loath—and with good reason. This King stressed unlawful action (civil disobedience) where bargaining with local notables might have prevailed. He lobbied for the extension of the welfare state, with all its disastrous consequences, in the claimants and in the growth of the bureaucracy. Moreover, he irresponsibly attacked his own country on the issue of Vietnam. He provided legitimate cover for a radical left that contained the worst elements of American life, posing as our true patriots. His crowning achievement, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, turned out to be a vehicle for the centralized regulation of political life. A plain reading of it sought to relieve individual injuries to one’s civil rights; the bureaucratic interpretation (the one that has prevailed) established group remedies, hiring and promotion quotas, and the emphasis on race-based solutions that bedevil our laws today. Similarly, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has subordinated state and local governments to the whims of the Justice Department. Thus King's version of equality cut off the relationship between the civil rights cause and the ideals of the American Founding; far from protecting limited, constitutional government his vision led to unlimited government. And all this does not mention the plagiarism and infidelity that infected his character.

Despite its equality on the federal holiday calendar, we cannot honor Martin Luther King Day with the same solemnity or joy we offer any number of other federal holidays. There were surely better approaches to establishing equal civil and political rights for all than the path which led from Brown v. Board of Education to the Civil Rights and Voting Rights Acts, as they have come to be interpreted and then modified, not to mention the detour of the Great Society welfare state. But King has become that focus, that shorthand, for the road to equal rights, from Birmingham to the Lincoln Memorial. It would be worse than pointless to abolish the holiday. The just cause transcends the man. We must focus our attention on that cause. In doing so, it would be far better to honor the better angels of King’s character in the Presidents we honor next month—Washington and Lincoln.

[Stoat]

Martin Luther King Day was put on the calendar by politicians to remind the American Public every year how "racists" they are....(sarcasm extreme....)

I guess it was felt that the MSM was not inflicting enough misapplied guilt and self-hatred upon the populace  :-)

If we can get Ronald Reagan on Mount Rushmore within my lifetime, then I will die a happy stoat  :-)

[MissAmericanPie]

Celebrate Robert E. Lee Day?

[Stoat]

....He may have done some good for Black Americans, but I also think that he laid the groundwork for even more problems by helping to put them on the Government plantation and destroying Black families.

Would it be appropriate to say that much of King's work was Church-based? (A point that the Left likes to hurry past, it seems)  Black America, at that time, was very religious and far stronger as families than they are today.  Somewhere between Selma and the Great Society, God was erased from the equation and replaced by the Welfare Check.  Was it King himself who did this or white liberal Government bureaucrats who condescendingly ripped away people's pride and sense of self-worth because 'they need our help'?  I tend to feel that it was more the latter, who continue to wrap themselves in King's mantle while gutting the heart of his intent.

[driftless]

That's a ridiculous argument. Any country where some citizens are allowed to discriminate against other citizens in public facilities because of the color of their skin or ethnic background is not one I want to live in. Ending discrimination by race was a good thing...period! No wonder libertarians can't get more than one percent of the vote.

[Route101]

I would invite every American to bypass the trailer park library of Bill Clinton and visit a real American Preisident's Library in Simi Valley, Ca.......

[andrew2527]

VERY good point!!!

[Stoat]

Celebrate Robert E. Lee Day?

Splendid idea!  Southern Americans are Americans too; something that Northeastern liberals seem to want to intentionally forget.  There are many wonderful and important Southern American heroes who don't get the adulation that they deserve.

I have a concern, however, and please allow me to explain.  Every time I visit Louisiana, I am reminded that I can't live there because the food is too good.....I know that I would weigh about 300 lbs in a month if I were to be surrounded by Blackened Redfish, Shrimp Etouffe and gumbo all the time.  My concern is that a Robert E. Lee holiday should, of course, celebrate all things pertaining to Southern heritage and culture, including the marvellous Southern cuisine. 

It would end up, for me, much like Thanksgiving where I need to diet for several weeks thereafter  :-)

 

[Proud_texan]

"Everyone of those individuals had a right to sit ins and protests!"

Pardon my ignorance (and I am not being sarcastic) but where is the right to conduct a sit-in at a private business enumerated?

[dawn53]

This King stressed unlawful action (civil disobedience) where bargaining with local notables might have prevailed

King was very clear in his "Letter from the Birmingham Jail" that those that chose civil disobedience as a means of changing "unjust" laws should be willing to pay the penalty for their unlawful action, that's why he was writing from jail.

MLK did not advocate violent overthrow of the government...and one can't defend what was going on in the area of discrimination of blacks in this country. He used an effective method to get the attention of the nation.

BTW, the 17th is also my husband's birthday.

[Proud_texan]

I've had limited business dealings in India but from the few I have had they've observed his birthday as a holiday.

[Stoat]

I would invite every American to bypass the trailer park library of Bill Clinton and visit a real American Preisident's Library in Simi Valley, Ca.......

Reagan Library and Museum

Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Library

[Siamese Princess]

As a conservative, I find it unconscionable that only this man has a federal holiday set aside for him. No longer are any of our founding fathers honored this way. Only this one man who has been built up by the media into a hero. Someday, I hope the truth about him will be revealed.

The truth is known by some. Almost all who do know either ignore or are afraid to speak the truth, though. MLK was a womanizer, plagarist and leftist. Riots had a habit of following in his wake.

[MissAmericanPie]

Lousyanna isn't the only place to find good food in the South. J/K, I love New Orleans and try to make a trip there every year for the food, shopping, and the kind of atmosphere, only found in the French Quarter.

[Proud_texan]

I don't deny that ending it was a good thing from a human standpoing but I deeply believe that the underpinnings of this country is one of freedom and that includes the freedom to be a total and complete a**.

Parenthetically I have been to places in the south in the last ten years that refused to serve me (by ignoring me) because, I assume, I was white (or maybe because I was bald, who the hell knows). I was certainly the only white person in the joint. In one place I was told "my kind" wasn't welcome there and I should leave.

I figured they were exercising their right to be an a** (or freedom of association) and "moved on".

[Siamese Princess]

I feel that the day should be retitled Civil Rights Day.

Michael Savage suggested that, as well.

[Stoat]

I've had limited business dealings in India but from the few I have had they've observed his birthday as a holiday.

Thanks very much for your insights  :-)  Do you know if all government offices are closed, as they are here for MLK day?  Did you get the impression that Gandhi was revered similarly in India as King is in the United States?

I don't mean to be a pest, just curious  :-)

[Stoat]

BTW, the 17th is also my husband's birthday.
 

Thank you very much for your insights, and Happy Birthday to Mr. Dawn  :-)

[Proud_texan]

Don't mind at all, glad to share what little experience I've had.

I don't know for sure as I only had dealings with private businesses but it was my impression that it was also a government holiday.

I never got into a conversation on Gandhi's status so I can't even speculate on that one....

[dnmore]

While many of the liberals take the monday off, I choose to take January 19th off with my floating holiday in commemoration of General Robert E Lee's birthday.

The trite saying that honesty is the best policy has met with the just criticism that honesty is not policy. The real honest man is honest from conviction of what is right, not from policy.