Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is in the pantheon of American heroes. He is honored with a national holiday. For those of us who write about American politics, life and society it is expected – rightly or wrongly – that on King’s designated holiday we offer a comment, essay or some other thought about his legacy.
The expectation is even greater for black Americans and other nonwhites. Brother King was and is a gift to all Americans — and, yes, the world — but black people are the most direct beneficiaries of his struggle.
Every year brings more writing about King’s legacy and the work which remains. Interviews and talks will be given. Brother King will be quoted. The “I Have a Dream Speech” and the March on Washington will be obsessively referenced by the mass media and others. Of course, the “Jobs and Freedom” part of the march will be left out.
There are the de rigueur TV shows, biopics, documentaries and other coverage of King’s legacy and life, specifically, and the civil rights movement more generally.
This year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, BBC America chose to air a “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” marathon. That iteration features the series’ first black captain as a central character, Benjamin Sisko, as portrayed by Avery Brooks. Given his personal connection to the original “Star Trek” series, I believe Brother King would have enthusiastically approved.
We also see some of the worst types of absurdities on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. History and reality are abused; the truth is made to weep. Such things happened in previous years too, of course, but this year may have been exceptional.
To observe this year’s holiday, Donald Trump and his mouthpieces pathetically tried to deploy Dr. King as a defense against the impeachment process.
Black conservatives are trotted out on Fox News and elsewhere to fulfill their designated roles as apology machines for white supremacy and white racism. Either because of internalized racism or money (likely some combination of the two) these right-wing racial mercenaries will tell outrageous lies to suggest that King would have embraced — or even tolerated Trump and today’s Republican Party.
In keeping with past performances, some of these bought and paid for racial mercenaries will be Dr. King’s relatives. Alas, it would seem that many people do in fact have a price — even if that price is affixed to distorting the life and sacrifice of Brother King.
Too much time will be spent relitigating whether Brother King would have been a Republican, or somehow was one, and suggesting that somehow the Democrats are the “real racists”. Those “debates” are political theater, sophistry bordering on and often crossing over into outright buffoonery.
Brother King was a democratic socialist. Many chain stores hold sales on Martin Luther King Jr. Day — but he was opposed to consumerism and greed.
The U.S. Navy recently announced that it would name an aircraft carrier after Doris Miller, an African-American sailor who was awarded the Navy Cross for his bravery during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
Acting Secretary of the Navy Thomas Modly said of this honor: “In selecting this name, we honor the contributions of all our enlisted ranks, past and present, men and women, of every race, religion and background…. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. observed, ‘Everybody can be great — because anybody can serve’. No one understands the importance and true meaning of service than those who have volunteered to put the needs of others above themselves.”
Dr. King stood against militarism and war. He famously said, “The bombs in Vietnam explode at home: They destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America.”
In all, the real Brother King, the radical freedom fighter and critic of capitalism, war, greed and white supremacy has been whitewashed and flattened by the American myth-making machine. Such is the price for being inducted into national memory as a revered public hero.
Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, an assistant professor of African American Studies at Princeton, reminds us of these things in the new book “Fifty Years Since MLK”:
Brother King paid a great cost for his radical truth-telling: When he turned his full attention and energy to racial segregation, poverty, war and questions of class inequality, he was vilified by white America as well as by many leaders in the black community. At the time of his martyrdom Brother King was one of the most unpopular people in the United States.
