Is MLK A Hero of Yours?

[Mini-Me]

You can oppose Obama without being a racist but I can't see someone other than a white supremacist could see MLK as anything short of a hero.

Frankly, I think the poll needs more than two options. I imagine people's feelings are more nuanced than "yes" or "no." I'm voting yes, but I can see why others might not. Honestly, I have some mixed feelings towards MLK...or rather, I have mixed feelings about the way people view - and must view - MLK. His powerful speeches about equality and justice are moving, and combined with his strong presence and influence, his commitment to nonviolence and civil disobedience probably saved this country a whole lot of grief. Could you imagine what might have happened if someone more militant and inflammatory became the predominant lightning rod for the movement, rather than MLK?* On the whole, I think that makes him a hero...but he was a flawed hero, and it bothers me that history books, the media, and popular culture all cover up his faults and worship him like some kind of perfect saint. It bothers me that people are not even allowed to deviate from that worship without being called racist. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a hero...but he was also a plagiarist, and he also betrayed his wife with extramarital affairs. He also had socialist tendencies (although he at least recognized the injustice of Communism's totalitarianism), and that's another flaw in my book. None of these flaws are anywhere near deal-breakers for me, because of all the good he did...but the problem is that you're not even "allowed" to bring them up or criticize him for them, because some people feel that the actual man cannot stand on his own and must be replaced by a perfect idol. This gives rise to a mindless false dichotomy between, "either you worship him or you're a racist." The groupthink and conformity is so prevalent that every single person must fear judgment if they do not walk on eggshells and dishonestly speak only of a perfect caricature of a man. Well, you know what? Fuck that.

*Some might say that he wasn't as nonviolent as we make him out to be...I remember someone criticized me on these forums a year ago about assuming he was, and that poster claimed otherwise. Even if that poster was right though, MLK at the very least paid far more lip service to nonviolence than probably anyone else we could have hoped for. By using nonviolent rhetoric in his speeches, I think he saved a lot of lives and kept the movement from backfiring.

 

[Antonius Stone]

Gandhi had some socialistic views, and that is a large part of why India was a socialist country for a long time.

do you guys hate Gandhi too?

 

[Andrew-Austin]

Never really considered him one of my heroes alongside folk like Ron Paul, that is not to say he wasn't a hero though.

I feel comfortable saying MLK was a hero, despite the rumors about "Michael King" which I'm not inclined to take seriously.

 

[gls]

Gandhi had some socialistic views, and that is a large part of why India was a socialist country for a long time.

do you guys hate Gandhi too?

LOL... so not believing someone to be a "hero" is considered "hating" them now?

 

[AutoDas]

Gandhi had some socialistic views, and that is a large part of why India was a socialist country for a long time.

do you guys hate Gandhi too?

The opposite of love is indifference, not hate. Even Gandhi knew that.

 

[Imperial]

I think MLK is a hero. I can respect people who lean communist or socialist(heck, I was almost a communist a couple of years back), if they are legitimately studying the concepts.

The key is certain understanding about the rights of man.

 

[BlackTerrel]

5.) I think it is ridiculous that this man or his memory cannot be questioned without knee jerk cries of racism.

NAZI

1. A member of the National Socialist German Workers' Party, founded in Germany in 1919 and brought to power in 1933 under Adolf Hitler.
2. often nazi An adherent or advocate of policies characteristic of Nazism; a fascist.

adj.

Of, relating to, controlled by, or typical of the National Socialist German Workers' Party.

The poster "youropinioncounts" linked to martinlutherking.org which is run by stormfront.org a notorious white supremacist website whose entire existence is based on their theory that whites are inferior apes and that we only exist in society because jewish brainwashing in media and film has convinced white America that we are normal human beings. Yes that's Nazi and yes that's racist - you should be more concerned with that poster and website than the exact definition of a Nazi.

I'm actually a bit disturbed that I'm the only one that called him out on that.

 

[BlackTerrel]

The problem with this view is that King openly advocated quotas and racial set-asides. He wrote that the "Negro today is not struggling for some abstract, vague rights, but for concrete improvement in his way of life." When equal opportunity laws failed to achieve this, King looked for other ways. In his book Where Do We Go From Here, he suggested that "A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for him, to equip him to compete on a just and equal basis." To do this he expressed support for quotas.

At a time when blacks did not have basic rights does that make him a bad person or one who is fighting for equality?

 

[BlackTerrel]

I am happy to see "no" is in the lead on this poll

Funny that yes was significantly in the lead to start. Usually polls don't shift much once you have 30-40 votes as long as the original sample was the same as the rest. Makes you wonder if certain people are linking and targeting this thread. Just an idea....

 

[jdmyprez_deo_vindice]

Funny that yes was significantly in the lead to start. Usually polls don't shift much once you have 30-40 votes as long as the original sample was the same as the rest. Makes you wonder if certain people are linking and targeting this thread. Just an idea....

Yep we are ron paul spammers who specialize in dragging people to threads on ron paul websites to spam polls about black leaders from the 60's in an effort to make the white man appear glorious. I cannot believe you figured out this conspiracy, you and Hannity are beyond our ability to handle!

 

[Uriel999]

I voted yes, sure he had a lot to be desired, but look at his actual impact. Fairly positive overall would ya'll not say?

 

[AutoDas]

At a time when blacks did not have basic rights does that make him a bad person or one who is fighting for equality?

Would you prefer to get shipped back to Africa?

 

[ChaosControl]

I respect him, but I wouldn't call him a hero. I reserve that title for very few individuals.

 

[BlackTerrel]

Would you prefer to get shipped back to Africa?

This is a stupid question. Seriously, this is what you're asking me?

I'd say more but I like to be civil in internet forums.

 

[AutoDas]

This is a stupid question. Seriously, this is what you're asking me?

I'd say more but I like to be civil in internet forums.

That's the only thing I think African-Americans are entitled to.

 

[DeadheadForPaul]

There WAS a Lew Rockwell link posted on the last page, need I guide you towards it? If you care to look you could find a number of reliable sources questioning the accuracy of the "history" regarding Martin Luther King Jr.

Lew Rockwell has used racism to further his own political agenda - don't trust a word that the man says with regard to MLK...or anything

 

[DeadheadForPaul]

He was a hero for Ron Paul, it's surprising to me that so many here on the forums have a distaste for MLK.

This movement has attracted the more disgusting element of the Right: Neo-Confeds, separatists, etc.

 

[danberkeley]

Lew Rockwell has used racism to further his own political agenda - don't trust a word that the man says with regard to MLK...or anything

Proof?

 

[Crash Martinez]

Lew Rockwell has used racism to further his own political agenda - don't trust a word that the man says with regard to MLK...or anything

I second the appeal for proof on this. Wait, is your name James Kirchick?

This movement has attracted the more disgusting element of the Right: Neo-Confeds, separatists, etc.

What's so disgusting about being a separatist????????????

 

[coyote_sprit]

Lew Rockwell has used racism to further his own political agenda - don't trust a word that the man says with regard to MLK...or anything

So I guess I shouldn't trust all the right things Lew Rockwell has been saying for a very long time?