How should white progressives invoke Dr. King to criticize President Obama?

[Humansletstalkok]

Interesting discussion at DailyKos, mkay?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/08/28/1011313/-Please-hear-and-understand:-Posting-to-a-blog-is-not-giving-your-life-for-justice-%28POLL%29

Please hear and understand: Posting to a blog is not giving your life for justice.

by dmitcha

I am concerned and confused by the ongoing appropriation here of Black civil rights leaders as symbols for a predominantly White movement with strong intonations of entitlement as well as a significant core group who openly displays contempt for the nation's first Black president. While it surely happens elsewhere, I am an active member of this community, and this is the place I want to address.

He would not, and did not, vilify, deride or condescend towards even those who came at him with violence, much less those who shared his mission but not his strategy.

I am aware that part of privilege and entitlement is not examining one's own choices and immediately downplaying or discrediting challenges of those choices by "others."

I also am aware that part of privilege and entitlement is truly not knowing how one's actions are received, and what history and protocol one is impinging on, or even violating, because consideration and understanding of "others" is not something that is routinely taught or valued in mainstream culture.

...
Please also contemplate the distinction between American heroes from whom you can learn, and whom you celebrate, and those heroes you may not yet fully understand and consider ongoing research. Dr. King is everyone's American hero. But he is not everyone's personal symbol in their struggle - unless that struggle is represented by selflessness, life-threatening and ceaseless activism, dignified protest, and patience and respect for all with whom you come in contact, even as you march towards justice.
...
If you have not yet been shot at, had your life threatened, marched thousands, or even hundreds, towards a danger-filled doorway towards freedom, if you have not placed country before family, if you have not been imprisoned for your beliefs and the actions they evoked, if you have not devised workshops and trained thousands of followers on how to lay their own lives on the line at your word, if you do not each day place your head down while reflecting on the lives you are changing city-/state-/nation-/worldwide and simultaneously listening for rustling leaves, broken glass, screeching tires and guns being cocked, if you have not abandoned your home and career for a cause that is greater than yours, if you have not sat down with both your enemies and your supporters to tirelessly campaign for rights you yourself may never enjoy...
...
If you are feeling a bit warm right now and, possibly, itching to respond, please ask yourself this first. Am I holding myself to the highest possible standard of discourse here? If the most I know about Dr. King is the "I Have a Dream" speech, which I've actually not seen in its entirety, do I still feel inside that my opinion about this is the equivalent of those who studied African-American history, marched in the movement itself, lost family members to the fires and bullets and dogs and grew up with their pictures and stories personally shared? Is the strongest reaction I can provide here one of entitlement and self-focus, along the lines of "Dr. King is for all Americans!" or "Don't you dare call me a racist!" Would it be useful and respectful to do a little more research before wading into the comment stream to assert my indignation and authority, although it is based primarily on my own sense of importance in the universe?

NB: uncopyrighted material

[snagglepuss]

Utter nonsense. I suppose only GermanJews should quote Marx and MLK

should have his hand slapped for "appropriating" Ghandi's ideas.

[jpgray]

1. King was all bouncers and velvet ropes when it came to spreading his message

If you weren't a house-bombed cop-beaten shot-at guerilla enemy of the people badass, he didn't want you supporting or promoting his message of truth and righteousness, let alone discomfiting the influential, powerful or wealthy with his example and expression of justice.

I think that's why his marches only attracted like ten people, and why he starved himself and wore khadi for a few years before he felt comfortable promoting Gandhi's ideas.

[Empowerer]

2. Beautiful!

Kicked and HIGHLY recommended!

[rury]

4. +1,000,000,000

:kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick: :kick:

[Name removed]

3. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[grantcart]

5. They should loudly invoke Dr. Kings words and aim them at President Obama whenever

They are locked in one of the jail cells that Dr.King layed his head down in.

[Demeter]

6. Why should anyone invoke MLK to criticize Obama?

Obama fails on his own merits, and the people he picks to help him.

[Fearless]

7. How about we use the man's words for their content and not for the color of his skin...

:+

[izquierdista]

8. Yea, content of his character is lacking

Given the big bait and switch he pulled.

[ClarkUSA]

14. Prove it.

[izquierdista]

22. Guantanamo

No public option, troops still in Iraq, a Republican Treasury secretary, a Republican secretary of Defense, whistleblower prosecutions, still looking for those comfortable walking shoes.

There's been a big bait&switch pulled off.

[TheWraith]

38. Never mind the fact that the troops leave Iraq by year's end...

His first order was to close Gitmo, and Congress couldn't have provided a public option if you put a gun to their heads. Yeah, just blame it on Obama even though he's been busting his ass to accomplish more in the first 2 years than most Presidents do in an entire term.

[Fearless]

9. Oh I was speaking of Dr. King, but that works too lol.

[craigmatic]

10. King's next project was supposed to be a march of the poor on D.C. Obama is more geared toward the

status quo and proping up a broken system. Still invoking MLK isn't neccessary to say that Obama isn't doing enough. Just flat out say he's not doing enough.

[Empowerer]

11. More very insightful observations from the piece . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=433x756624

<snip>

I was just in DC for the MLK Monument memorial dinner. Before wrapping any community in the flag of honor that association with his great legacy affords, please finally consider asking yourself this. Would you have approached Dr. King's family at this event to let them know that, in the name of their father/brother/uncle, you routinely call President Obama a failure, a socialist, a puppet, a corporatist and a coward? That this is how you exercise your voice for justice?

And if you did so, would you expect them to swell with gratitude and pride?

Criticism of the President's actual policies, coupled with research and even solutions, is welcome and necessary. But the continued conflation here of personal insults against his person with speaking out for truth and freedom is, at least, one of three things: intentionally manipulative, offensively disingenuous or so naively entitled that it will continue to evoke this and similar responses ... If you, indeed, have done nothing but write a series of blog posts with defensive, profanity-laced comments in your responses, and will not have hundreds of thousands to millions weeping because progress, in your absence, may, in fact, end...then you are not fully an heir to this particular legacy of "not being silent." You may, perhaps, dine with friends of different backgrounds, make sure your children are loving and tolerant and treat all people of all color as equal. You may be an heir, then, to Dr. King's dream of racial equality. But that does not grant you the entire estate of his accomplishments to assign to your actions, particularly those that directly contradict his teachings and his choices.
...

I understand that you may feel passionately that Obama has failed you personally and, perhaps, also has failed the country. I understand, as well, that you may feel that those who do not feel Obama has failed them personally are deluded or blindly following him due to race. I understand that you may not yet be able to examine the entitlement such a point of view represents, that your personal disappointment is valid and, in fact, objectively true, while our satisfaction with the president is not creditable and clearly must be subjective.

But...do you sincerely believe that your angry/snarky/snide blog posts challenging the president's personal qualities of strength, courage, conviction and honor are the direct descendants of the civil rights movement? Do you see that your writing lacks solution, embrace, scholarship, sacrifice and forward impetus? Do you at all see the irony of appropriating the leaders, efforts and intentions of a movement designed to give people of color - and not just Black ones - in this country the status of equality as adults in this country...while your own language is the modern, dog whistling equivalent of calling him a "boy"?

Do you not see the irony of taking Dr. King's legacy for your own...rather than recognizing that the true and acting heir is the president himself that you so disparage and disrespect? ... Do you, at least, understand that an entire community of people not only recognizes the irony but the offense of this?

[Karenina]

12. Oh, my word!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZgBHMyxF0g&NR=1

[1StrongBlackMan]

15. Again ... I suspect

That this OP will, at once, piss a great deal of DUers off, while sinking like a rock into the digital memory of this site. But what it won't do is prompt the self-reflection that the opinion writer requests.

[Supersedeas]

36. Wouldn't there also be some irony if Rubio appropriated this language?

[SadPanda]

13. Sigh, I read that article three times....

WTF AM I READING?

If Dr. King was alive he would be standing next to Obama with a gigantic smile. Period. End of story.

[1StrongBlackMan]

17. True ...

And I suspect that his words towards those seeking to invoke his name in criticizing PRESIDENT OBAMA, would be none too kind ... Just as he didn't pat the backs of, or tolerate, those attempting to use him to be critical of Malcolm X.

But as the opinion writer suggests, that insight would require a depth of knowledge of the Civil Rights Movement, lacking in those asking: "How should white progressives invoke Dr. King to criticize President Obama?"

[1StrongBlackMan]

16. I suspect ...

That this OP will, at once, piss a great deal of DUers off, while sinking like a rock into the digital memory of this site. But what it won't do is prompt the self-reflection that the opinion writer requests.

[Number23]

20. You are absolutely right.

People who think they know it all are seldom interested in hearing that they may know precious little and understand even less.

[Number23]

18. I can't thank you enough

THANK YOU for posting this here. You will be called every name under the sun, you will be accused of the dreaded "race baiting" by the same people that the author specifically calls out in her piece.

But this is needed here. It is DESPERATELY needed. I had a conversation with someone on DU YESTERDAY, who was pulling the old "blacks will support Obama because he's black" bullshit. This is probably the TENTH time I've had this conversation on this web site. A web site where posters routinely break their arms portraying themselves as the "smartest," "most informed," "most tolerant" people that America has to offer.

This passage needs to be pinned to the top of this web site:

"I understand, as well, that you may feel that those who do not feel Obama has failed them personally are deluded or blindly following him due to race. I understand that you may not yet be able to examine the entitlement such a point of view represents, that your personal disappointment is valid and, in fact, objectively true, while our satisfaction with the president is not creditable and clearly must be subjective.

...Do you see that your writing lacks solution, embrace, scholarship, sacrifice and forward impetus? Do you at all see the irony of appropriating the leaders, efforts and intentions of a movement designed to give people of color - and not just Black ones - in this country the status of equality as adults in this country...while your own language is the modern, dog whistling equivalent of calling him a "boy"?"

"Do you, at least, understand that an entire community of people not only recognizes the irony but the offense of this?"

Thank you. Thank you for posting this here.

[1StrongBlackMan]

23. Relatedly ...

I had a conversation with a very politically active Gay Teaparty Libertarian (yeah, I know ... that's quite a combination, but ...). He commented that the worst treatment he has experienced was not at the hands (or mouths) of his conservative compatriots; but rather, from self-professed liberals. When I asked him about this treatment, he told how at conservative events, he and his partner were introduced as Joel and John; while at liberal functions, they were introduced as "our gay friends, Joel and John."

While I explained to him that this treatment didn't seem particularly harsh (tacky as hell, but not harsh), I completely understood what he was talking about. I can't count the number of time, at liberal functions, my wife and I seem to have an entourage because everyone wants to be seen as friendly with the American-American couple, as they ask a thousand and one questions about the state of the Black community ... questions they neglected to ask the previous week when I called called while organizing a fundraiser or seeking a venue for a mentorship event. Questions they also didn't ask at functions with "mixed" audiences.

[Number23]

29. I know too many black people that have a similar story

That the most racist or racially insensitive people they ever knew were liberals. Growing up, I heard about "liberal" racism almost as much as conservative racism, and considering I was born and raised in Georgia, that is truly saying something.

[1StrongBlackMan]

31. Liberal Racism ...

Wow ... Stream of consciousness posting ...

I am a member of a historically Black Fraternity. One of the Brothers on my campus is a white guy. He pledged me and is my Sands' Spec. He pledged just like I did, so he is every bit a Brother as I; but to be honest, he probably had it a little rougher because he is white (though, he attempted to ensure that everyone the came after him, pledged just as hard as he did).

This Brother spent four years "hanging Black", "dressing Black", "dating Black" and "fratting Black" ... In his mind he was Black.

One day, while on a road trip, the Brothers got to talking about "the Black experience" on our predominately white campus versus the experience we would have had at a HBCU. I was making a point, when my white Brother cut me off saying, "shut up! You don't know what you are talking about." He then went on to describe HIS experience having visited a HBCU.

I was shocked ... thinking "How could a non-Black speak to any experience of a Black person?" But let him go on.

Then, someone else attempted to make a point, and again, the white Brother cut him off, too. Again saying that the other Brother didn't know what he was talking about.

After a couple minutes of silence, I said, "Brother ___, with all due respect, how the HELL can you tell me, or any other Black person anything about the Black experience. But what is most troubling is that you will never know what it is to be Black ... In fact, your view of Blackness is as stereotypically superficial as that of any other white person; but how could it be any different? Whites see Black folks as 'snappy dressers', by all accounts you are the best dressed man on campus; whites see Blacks males as physical specimens, you spend hours in the gym and, honestly, have the body of a Greek god. Whites see Black man as hyper-sexual beings; you are a real ladies man and with a rap that makes the rest of us jealous. You are smart, fluent in three languages and can explore calculus and statistics in a way that anyone can understand; yet you are officially inactive because you haven't made chapter grades and you appear to be on the "6+ year plan. And we all know how Black folks are viewed intellectually. So tell me ... how is your perception of Black manhood any different from that of the typical white person? But remember, while you have been 'Black' for the past 4 years, I have been Black all my life. And whenever you choose, you can cut the dreds out, put on the Brooks Brother's suit and wallstreet will be none the wiser."

The rest of the trip was pretty tense, but years later Brother ____ and I spoke of that conversation; in fact, he apologized saying that he had never thought about how he had come across to Black people because for the most part, Black people just accepted him as he was. He said he came to a realization (long after college) that we (Black people) could see him for who he was; but his white priviledge ... his "knowing" prevented him from seeing who we were.

[Number23]

32. hell of a post

while you have been 'Black' for the past 4 years, I have been Black all my life. And whenever you choose, you can cut the dreds out, put on the Brooks Brother's suit and wallstreet will be none the wiser."

And that right there is where the difference will ALWAYS come down too. Dreads can be cut off, rap music can be put away, brown sugar can be tucked out of sight, but skin color is forever.

You probably changed that man's entire existence. At least he was man enough to even acknowledge the existence of his white privilege. Are you familiar with Tim Wise? Wise is a white speaker who writes really great articles and discusses white privilege at great length (he and Morris Dees at the SPLC are like my white heroes of anti-racism.) You should do a search and see what is said here about Tim Wise. It ain't pretty.

[1StrongBlackMan]

33. Yes, I know Wise well, literally ...

I worked in the Civil Rights field for 20+ years, before being seduced to the dark side of private industry.

As I mentioned, my Frat is extremely bright (... and maybe the fact that he was just so damned pretty ... LOL), he was able to be very self-aware.

I have a history of such confrontations ...

When I was working for a private non-profit Civil Rights Agency (while still in my first 90 days of employment), I told a major donor who went through great efforts to be in on every planning session that while I appreciated his generosity and his sincere energy, he could only be a soldier in the battle; never a general. While that was not met kindly by the agency's board, the staff felt it appropriate and long over-due.

BTW ... Remember the post "Dear President Obama, we understand" from about 6 months ago in the AA Discussion Group? PM me.

[Number23]

37. PM sent!

I was just about to suggest you check us out in AAIG. I think you and Brewman_Jax -- or as I call him, The Black Scholar -- would hit it off brilliantly. But I have a feeling you already know that. :)

[CakeGrrl]

19. K/R

This will be vastly unrec'ed by the same crowd who applauded Cornel West's latest screed proclaiming that Dr. King would roll in his grave at President Obama's failings.

[Number23]

30. Is it just me or does it seem as if this diary is in response to Cornel?

Although I'm sure that DKos is as littered with "liberals" who attempt to dismiss Obama and pretend to speak for or know what MLK would say if he were alive today. It's funny to me that these people ALWAYS envision MLK being so "disappointed." MLK -- the most pragmatic, intelligent, compassionate, flawed, magnificent American of the last 60 years -- as concern troll. Classic.

And it does appear that this has been unrec'd to death. Some of the responses in this thread are fascinating. And I'm really intrigued that one of the numerous people on DU that I've had the misfortune to come across with the mindset that "black people are only voting for Obama because of his skin color" is one of the people posting in this thread and dismissing this OP. Like I said, absolutely fascinating.

[Number23]

21. After reading the subject heading again, I think that actually the correct answer is

that they shouldn't.

[1StrongBlackMan]

24. Or maybe even better ...

Why would anyone that respects the Good Doctor's Legacy want to?

[Empowerer]

25. Perhaps because some of those who respect his "legacy"

have no idea what that legacy really is beyond "I have a dream," "not the color of their skin but the content of their character," and "I've been to the mountaintop."

Sadly, some people have fallen in love with the 2-dimensional caricature of Dr. King that bears little resemblance to the remarkable flesh-and-blood man he truly was.

Interestingly, the real Dr. King was not then and would not today be nearly as popular and beloved as the fictional one has become. But he was much more interesting and meaningful.

[1StrongBlackMan]

26. So true ... So true.

I remember once having a discussion in a inter-racial group, within I offered the proposition that Martin Luther King was only able to advance the Civil Rights Movement as far as he did was because many in the seat of power knew that the ideology of Malcolm, the Deacons was being heard, and adopted, by nearly a half million Black Korean war Veterans.

That's a part of the Civil Rights Movement's history, too!

[Empowerer]

27. Not to mention the lawyers, lobbyists and others who were pushing and prodding at the same time

Dr. King was a remarkable person. But he was not THE civil rights movement. There were many other players, all of them important. For example, without Thurgood Marshall and his team, there would have been no Brown v. Board of Education, which was the precedent that lead to the overturning of the segregation laws that were being protested in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. And, while many people think that Dr. King was responsible for the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act, he actually had very little to do with it. Clarence Mitchell, the NAACP's chief lobbyist (who was known as the 101st Senator and "The Lion in the Lobby") was the driving force behind the successful passage of those laws.

I don't note this to diminish Dr. King - his legacy is secure and well-deserved. But I think we actually do him a disservice by building him up into something he was not. The person he actually was is more than deserving of our honor, respect and awe.

[Number23]

28. Damn. SPECTACULAR point

Nothing more really need be said.

[Union Scribe]

34. That disqualifies just about everyone reading this from "invoking" him

Not one in a thousand will meet the requirements set forth in that post, I'm guessing that includes some people crowing in this thread.

[wndycty]

35. Kick

:kick: