And that disapproval didn't just come from the openly racist South.
At the height of his activism, nearly two-thirds of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of King. government and much of mainstream America, during his lifetime. We mustn't forget that King was considered a radical and a criminal, by both the U.S. Many Americans today would undoubtedly call him a "race-baiter" at best, and an "extremist thug" at worst. The radical nature of his message seems to have been watered down into what people think he was-a gentle leader who advocated a non-violent approach to fighting for equality-instead of what he actually was-a passionate disrupter who constantly pushed boundaries and pulled no punches when calling out injustices of all kinds. People frequently twist King's words to fit their worldview, and in doing so, dishonor the man and his fight for true justice. I've seen people quote King's "I have a dream" speech while asserting that talking about racism just perpetuates racism-an assertion King simply didn't abide. I've seen people say "hate cannot drive out hate" while mischaracterizing a calling out of racial injustice as hatred. King's daughter shut him down.įor example, I've seen people say that people should be "judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character" as an argument against Affirmative Action-type programs. RELATED: Steve Bannon claimed MLK would be proud of Trump. King's legacy, turning his core message into a socially neutral, politically palatable, let's-all-hold-hands-and-skip-together philosophy-one that challenges no one and betrays the radical reality of his work.Ģ) Such a whitewashing of King's message enables people to share his words in a way that actually upholds or overlooks the very injustices he was trying to fight. But there are two big problems with such memes.ġ) Sharing one or two sentences drastically dilutes Dr.
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