AP Talks MLK's Forgotten 'Complexity' Forgets his Plagiarism & Communist Ties

Newsbusters.org ^ | 01/21/08 | Warner Todd Huston

[Mobile Vulgus]

On the national holiday that celebrates the birth of famed civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., the AP decided to remind us all that there was more to King than the popularized view of him affords. AP says that it is a shame that King has been "frozen in a moment in time that ignores the full complexity of the man and his message." Who can disagree with this? After all, very often notable historical figures end up being turned into cardboard cartoons known for that one "frozen moment" in history that made them famous.

But, even as the AP argues that we should learn more about the whole of MLK's life and take a more measured look at his life and works, the AP itself whitewashes several aspects of his real life. AP never mentions, for instance, his ties with communists nor do they mention that he had a life long record of plagiarizing, most notably with his doctoral thesis. They don't mention his distrust of capitalism nor his support of the concept of special treatment and quotas, an idea that strays from his acclaimed position of "equal" treatment. So, the AP may want us to avoid putting Dr. King "on a pedestal of perfection," but it is also a fact that they only want us to know some of King's real record instead of all of it as they claim.

The AP has taken the occasion of King's holiday celebration to remind us all that the eeevil government was wary of him toward the end of his life, to tell us that "by taking on issues outside segregation, he had lost the support of many newspapers and magazines, and his relationship with the White House had suffered."

Yes, it is definitely true that King was not the universally loved character that he has been mythologized as today. And, we really should take the time to learn more about our famous American historical figures, just as the AP advises us to do. So, let's look a bit at some of King's warts to balance the gauzy portrait we are used to seeing.

Now let us be clear right off the top, here. King's whole record -- even that with which many of us will thoroughly disagree -- does not detract from the salient fact that he was a seminal leader in bringing the U.S. out of its racial oppression. His leadership was transformational for shining the light of liberty upon a segment of the country that was held back by ignorant custom and racial hatred. But, just as the AP urges, his whole life's record really should be known so that we can take a full measure of the man.

Let us start with the fact that Dr. King had a long record of plagiarizing his work starting with his doctoral dissertation from Boston University. As reported in 1991, a Boston University investigation concluded that King had plagiarized much of his dissertation. "King included in his dissertation a good deal of material taken verbatim from a variety of other sources without proper attribution (or any attribution at all), an act which constitutes plagiarism by any reasonable academic standard."

The University decided not to revoke his degree. After all, his iconic status would have made a target of the school by King's followers and the effort to reveal the truth and take measures that might have been leveled at any other student who had been so fraudulent in their dissertation would be troublesome at best. It was just easier for the University to forget the whole thing.

Obviously, Boston University wasn't too interested in the AP's advice to celebrate King's "complexity." And who can blame them?

King was also under surveillance by the FBI because he surrounded himself with known and vocal members of the communist party of the US. Several close King associates were openly communists. Stanley Levinson, Jack O’Dell, and Bayard Rustin (who stayed in close communication with Benjamin Davis) were all communists or past party members. King also frequently spoke before the National Lawyers Guild and Lawyers for Democratic Action, both of which were directly and openly tied to the communist party. He also attended seminars put on by the Highlander Folk School, another organization with communist ties. I will point out, though, that King himself was never successfully identified as a member of the communist party and he did denounce the Soviets early in his civil rights career, so to say King himself was an outright communist is a step too far to take. However, it is true that his cures for the past ill treatment of the American Negro was increasingly leading down the road to socialist ideals.

For instance, King was not a capitalist, free marketeer and he had drifted toward racial quotas as he neared his final years of activism. In a 1968 Playboy interview, King said,"If a city has a 30% Negro population, then it is logical to assume that Negroes should have at least 30% of the jobs in any particular company, and jobs in all categories rather than only in menial areas." So, quotas was the remedy as far as Dr. King was concerned. His was an ideology of democratic socialism not "the American way."

So, in conclusion, let me say that I agree with the AP that we should learn more about the lives, writings and ideas of our historical figures, including Martin Luther King, Jr. But, I should rather think that the AP would want to reveal the whole man, warts and all, and not to further white wash his life if they really wanted to follow their own advice.

Clearly they don't, however.

[Mobile Vulgus]

So what say you all about King's legacy and the AP willingness to hide some of the facts?

[ClearCase_guy]

As I said on another thread: The guy wasn’t all bad. But he was mostly bad.

[benjamin032]

I think the most telling thing is, no one has made a Documentary about him. Ali, Malcom X, but not King. I wonder why?

[weegee]

there is more respect for REVEREND Martin Luther King Jr. on this day than there is on December 25th for Jesus Christ.

What would MLK think about that?

[weegee]

Happy Holiday.

Is there a holiday season sale on someplace?

[weegee]

Jesse’s waiting for his own biopic first.

[weegee]

The University decided not to revoke his degree. After all, his iconic status would have made a target of the school by King's followers and the effort to reveal the truth and take measures that might have been leveled at any other student who had been so fraudulent in their dissertation would be troublesome at best. It was just easier for the University to forget the whole thing.

The university was also in the midst of an ongoing struggle to retain the papers that had been left to the University. King's wife wanted them back to put in her own museum.

[dinoparty]

On the positive side, he was also a believer in the “natural law” of God, which rarely comes to light considering the media’s anti-theological biases.

[Neoliberalnot]

Preacher King and the Reverends Jackson and Sharpton share many values based on race.

[wideawake]

The King family places exorbitant prices on the use of his speeches, his writings, and photographs and footage from the King archive they control.

They have very famously been slow to produce scholarly editions of his papers, so much so that they have been criticized by leftist academics.

The fact is that after 1964 King realized that he had created a new and enormously influential voting bloc, and that this realization created a possibility for him to become the kingmaker and agenda-setter for the Democratic Party.

His economic and social views were clearly socialist, but they were moderate in the context of the Democratic left of 1968.

For every liberal who believes that his assassination was a plot by the GOP or the FBI or the CIA, there is a leftist who suspects that King was assassinated by the Hubert Humphrey wing of the Democratic Party, since King was openly challenging the old-school Democrats for effective control of the party.

[TWohlford]

And George Washington wasn’t perfect... Gandhi wasn’t the guy that the movie made him out to be... And Ronald Reagan did some stuff as POTUS that most of us here didn’t like....

[Sir_Humphrey]

King has not just been "mythologized". He's been deified.

Oh and by the way, happy St. Matry's day

[driftdiver]

Interesting, I was not aware of these things. I’ve never studied MLK and this stuff sure doesn’t come from the MSM very often.

[weegee]

George Washington had his own holiday in this nation once upon a time. The others never did and probably never will.

[ThisLittleLightofMine]

I’m still ticked that I lose my 4 day President (Lincoln & Washington) weekend for MLK.

[weegee]

Do you know where I might find a “Kiss me I’m Christian” button on sale today?

[weegee]

There are better sales on Presidents’ Day than MLK Day. Matress sales are always on Presidents’ Day. And Bill Clinton may one day be used to sell them.

[stan_sipple]

do the kids who enter essay contests get to plagiarize their papers?

[weegee]

Hillary has already shown that she will use Stalinist tactics to take down any political opponents. Barry Obama hasn’t.

While both are socialists, one has the brutal determination to abuse the system to see that she gets her way. Obama may not be as effective in pushing for his agenda.

Socialism isn’t sold in the marketplace of ideas. It does not win in a debate. It must be forced on the people. The shackles of socialism do not come off easily.