On this King Day, let's talk about Magic Negro Syndrome
https://establishmentbar.blogspot.com/2020/01/on-this-rev-dr-martin-luther-king-jr.html
Snip:
Dr. King is the prime example of this. He is now an anodyne exemplar of racial reconciliation. People forget his lacerating criticisms of milquetoast white moderates. They forget his growing radical opposition to the Vietnam War. They forget his growing critiques of American capitalism, and America's neglect of the poor of all races. For too many, he's a figure singing "We Shall Overcome," without acknowledging just how much he had said needed to be overcome by April 1968. In the mind of much of white liberal America, he is a savior who imparted no harsh lessons; he merely soothed their faint anguish. He never cast the money-changers out of the Temple. He's as mild-mannered in their conceptions as they are.