I was talking with my students today about Dr. King. We celebrated his birthday yesterday. As a country, we watched President Obama channel his inner King during his second inauguration. Obviously Dr. King is an incredibly influential figure, almost single-handedly laying the tracks for Obama to be in the position that he is. Sometimes, however, we remember him how the media wants us to.
Dr. King's biggest moment came during the "I Have A Dream" in Washington in August, 1963. The Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964, thereby fulfilling what seemed to be King's main aim. As far as the history books are concerned, we don't really hear about him again until his assassination in 1968. Why?
I didn't learn until college that during the last few years of his life, Dr. King was campaigning on behalf of the poor and downtrodden. He'd achieved some form of equality for blacks and had shifted his sights to those who had been ignored for centuries. He advocated a form of socialism in which the rich were obligated to bring up the poorer folks as a both a gift and a duty. He really was one of the biggest proponents of equality and believed in it so fervently that he would give up some of his own rights to support others.
But why haven't we really heard about all this? I'd have to say it has a lot to do with the general feeling about socialism at the time. We were still in the middle of the Cold War and socialism was an ugly buzzword that got people fired and sent to prison. People were hesitant to support such a radical policy.
I'd say that Dr. King just got a little too far ahead for his time. As much as socialism was abhorred 40 years ago, it is embraced today. One only needs to see the big hullabaloo about the 99% or nationalized healthcare. The poorer are finally starting to mobilize. King was just a couple decades early...
I'm not saying this is all a good thing or a bad thing. Just an observation. And not even a very well spelled out one.
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