When Did Martin Luther King Become The Most Important Person In American History?

toogoodreports.com ^ | January 20, 2003 | Lowell Phillips

[PeoplesRepublicOfWashington]

My daughter came home from elementary school several Januaries ago to inform me that MLK freed the slaves. I had to inform her that it was the nation's first Republican president who did that.

There's no way to raise a child color blind in today's public school system. She played with children of African and Asian heritage and never noticed a difference in peoples' skin colors before the school system taught her about it.

I thought it was interesting that when she studied native NW cultures they omitted the fact that coastal Indians were notorious slavers, and used to kill slaves wantonly for sport in demonstrations of wealth at potlatches. Makes the white European history of slavery look 'enlightened' in comparison.

By the way, history indicates that more black Africans were sold into slavery to Arabia than to the Americas. Where's the big black population today in Arabia? You'd think the Religion of Peace would have ensured their preservation.

[savedbygrace]

You apparently didn't read past the title.

[ctnoell70]

True. A few others come to mind: Colin Powell, Clarence Thomas, Jackie Robinson, Jesse Owens, Frederick Douglas, Booker T. Washington. All of these men rose to fame and prominence in the face of racism and inequality. All of these gentlemen had America's best interest at heart. That remains to be seen of Dr. King after the FBI releases its secret file on MLK in 2050.

[templar]

I really is a crying shame that public school kids know more trivial things, than things of real importance.

Not really. My child is being privately educated; I assume yours is? They are going to need servants someday. Servants need only a public education and to content themselves with trivia.

[Captainpaintball]

My child is in second grade, and is being told that MLK is the greatest man who ever lived in this country.She has no idea who Abe Lincoln was.She was taught that George Washington was greedy, and that all whites are greedy

Really? What are you going to do about this?

[Age of Reason]

George Washington deserves his own day, and it should be celebrated on his birthday, whether or not his birthday falls on a Monday.

What are we supposed to be celebrating, Washington or three-day weekends?

[Age of Reason]

That remains to be seen of Dr. King after the FBI releases its secret file on MLK in 2050.

It won't matter.

By 2050, immigration will have created a new America, with a different view of what matters in history.

[nicollo]

Granting that contempories are guilty of the hyperbole, we honor in King precisely that in him which upholds Jefferson, Washington and Lincoln.

I see nothing wrong with this.

[HaveGunWillTravel]

What strikes me as the most strange is that a considerable portion of the whites who line up to pander and kiss ass do not even seem very believable in their adulation. I don't think they are sincere. What's more, I don't think the blacks think they are sincere either. For that matter, I don't think half the blacks give a hoot either. I think that there is a certain percentage of insecure whites who think they have to prove that they aren't prejudice and a certain percentage of blacks that thrive on seeing the insecure whites grovel and pander. To me it's a very strange phenomenon. It makes whites look like closet racists who are continually trying to prove that they are not. It makes the blacks look like they are so self conscious of their blackness that they need to see the world bow down to their leader once a year. Civil rights? Sorry. I don't think civil rights are a big concern these days. Not only does everyone have them, if anything, today's blacks enjoy special consideration. Can you say affirmative action? The whole thing is a joke.

"Did you say something about my momma?"

"No, I didn't say something about your momma"

"So you're calling me a liar?"

"No, I'm not calling you a liar, honest!"

"I think you were talking about my momma"

"No, really! I don't even know your momma."

Etc.

[dagnabbit]

By 2050, immigration will have created a new America, with a different view of what matters in history.

If trends continue, in 2050 our grandkids might be thumping their heads against the floor at the local Madrass, trying to learn the Koran (in Spanish). MLK would be just another forgotten infidel.

[montag813]

The manner of his death also made him a martyr

So did Lincoln's. At least to some of us. Evidently not to the P.C. crowd, who mention Lincoln only in an attempt to make jim into some kind of Queer icon, through distortions and lies. Life in "Blue America" is really revolting. I don;t know how long my wife and I can hold out, before moving to the "Red Zone".

[Tailgunner Joe]

They don't have their own holidays though.

[nicollo]

What's the complaint?

Have you seen a statue of William McKinley lately? Look carefuly, they're everywhere. That martyred President meant the heavens and the earth to a generation. If they had national holiday in his day, there'd be a McKinley day. History has forgotten him. His contemporaries did not.

[dsutah]

Not to forget Rodney Paige, who is the first black Sec. of Education! At least I think he is, isn't he? Condi Rice of course, the first black National Security Advisor, a female one also!

[VMI70]

My children(private school, 1-2% black)
spent more time, it seemed, on Harriet Tubman than any other American historical figure. The PC cirriculum is as much to blame as anything else. I never heard of Harriet Tubman until my children bacame so well versed about her.

[sarasmom]

"Really? What are you going to do about this?"

What I do every day.Tell her the truth, and make her feel comfortable in her own intelligence to the point that she does not have to be overtly combative with her teacher, but teach her the skills to know that when someone is feeding her less than the whole truth, she is not wrong if she questions what she is taught at school.

I teach her a healthy skepticism, and encourage her to use her own mind, and trust her own instincts.I teach her to talk to me, and other adults she knows to be honest.

It is hard to raise a child,but it is my job as her mother, to build the skills she will need to function in the real world, and to prolong her childhood as long as possible.

What do you do with your child?

[Michael2001]

What exactly did George Washington Carver do for blacks, or for America. I admit ignorance, all I know is that he invented peanut butter.