The Part About MLK White People Don鈥檛 Like to Talk About
Why you can trust us
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is shoved back by Mississippi patrolmen during the 1966 March Against Fear from Memphis to Jackson
Photo by Underwood Archives/Getty Images
鈥淎 lie cannot live.鈥� 鈥擠r. Martin Luther King Jr.
鈥溾�t least not forever.鈥� 鈥擹enobia Jeffries Warfield
At the time of his death, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most reviled men in the United States. Today, we remember him as the beloved Dr. King, and many of us refer to him as such.
But as we read mainstream articles and hear reports and speeches about how far we鈥檝e come on this federal holiday honoring him, it is important that we remember some of the most hateful things that have been said about Dr. King and what he stood for by leaders of and in this country鈥擝lack and White鈥攖hen and . Why? Many of the conditions that he marched, boycotted, and spoke out against still exist today鈥�. We celebrate him now, even while condemning today鈥檚 activists the same way Dr. King was condemned 60 years ago.
Some regarded him as 鈥渢oo passive鈥� for his position on nonviolent action. Others, 鈥渢oo radical,鈥� for his stance against racism and oppression.
Dr. King was widely for his message of liberation for oppressed people in this country鈥擝lack people, Brown people, Native people, all poor people. The year he died, nearly 75 percent of American people disapproved of him, according to a 1968 .
His contemporary Malcolm X said that 鈥渋gnorance of each other is what has made unity impossible. Therefore, we need enlightenment. We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity. Once we have more knowledge about each other, we will stop condemning each other and a united front will be brought about.鈥�
It鈥檚 true. The sanitizing of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. along with the message of equality he was preaching, the uphill battle he was fighting, is doing more harm than good to today鈥檚 movement for Black Lives and other modern freedom fighters.
I understand the temptation. We are a country led by a racist, misogynist, xenophobic, bigoted bully. Donald Trump is the modern version one of those White men, spitting and shoving and kicking the civil rights activists of Dr. King鈥檚 era.
There are people who cringe at the thought of this and wish we could all just focus on the progress, the good of Dr. King and his message, the good of the civil rights movement, the good of today鈥檚 movements that are demanding justice for Black men, women, and children killed by police, proclaiming that Black Lives Matter; justice for women in the #timesup movement, girls and women of the #metoo and #muterkelly and missing and murdered Indigenous women movement; justice for immigrants; justice for Indigenous peoples of this land in movements like Standing Rock; justice for trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming people.
It鈥檚 a problematically romantic and often White vision of Dr. King as the Moses who led his people to freedom. It鈥檚 the discomfort of privilege and the resulting cognitive dissonance that make folks avoid the pain and anger still brewing in oppressed communities. They cannot see how ineffective are their attempts at building bridges鈥攖hat are still burning.
There鈥檚 a saying in some Black church communities about folks like this, 鈥淓verybody wanna go to heaven, but don鈥檛 nobody wanna die.鈥�
Even Dr. King saw this tendency of White people to too quickly and with too much relief declare success and head home smiling. In his famous Letter from a Birmingham Jail, he wrote:
鈥淔irst, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro鈥檚 great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen鈥檚 Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 鈥榦rder鈥� than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: 鈥業 agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action鈥�; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man鈥檚 freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a 鈥榤ore convenient season.鈥� Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.鈥�
I don鈥檛 believe Dr. King鈥檚 intent was to make these folks feel bad, in fact, I鈥檓 sure he wasn’t thinking about their feelings at all. I believe his point was to charge them to get out of their feelings and focus, not on the good, but on the fight at hand: the threat to justice everywhere.
This means confronting and questioning with courage and confidence all the we鈥檝e been told about the history of this country. Even the lies about Dr. King鈥檚 successes.
This means pulling back the veil on the atrocities committed by the 鈥渇orefathers鈥� and subsequent leaders of this country: the genocide of Indigenous people, the enslavement and torture of African people, the plunder and terrorization of Black men, women, and children, the internment of Japanese people, the suppression of women鈥檚 votes and voices, the mass incarceration of Black and Brown people.
This means not just , but doing something to the harm caused by it that persists to this day.
鈥淒r. King understood,鈥� political activist and North Carolina NAACP leader the Rev. Dr. William Barber points out in a , 鈥渢hat whenever we compromise with a lie about who people are, we empower the political forces that have exploited our nation鈥檚 divisions to cling to power.鈥�
Hence, the Trump presidency.
If we want this country to be great鈥攆or the first time ever鈥攁nd to live up to the racial justice work of Dr. King and so many others, we can start by telling the truth.
And here鈥檚 the truth: Dr. King鈥檚 work is not done. Those of us who continue to press forward for the liberation of all oppressed people celebrate him in the work we do daily.
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Zenobia Jeffries Warfield
is the former executive editor at 猫咪社区!, where she directed editorial coverage for 猫咪社区! Magazine, 猫咪社区! Media鈥檚 editorial partnerships, and served as chair of the 猫咪社区! Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee. A Detroit native, Zenobia is an award-winning journalist who joined 猫咪社区! in 2016 to build and grow 猫咪社区!鈥檚 racial justice beat, and continues to write columns on racial justice. In addition to writing and editing, she has produced, directed, and edited a variety of short documentaries spotlighting community movements to international democracy. Zenobia earned a BA in Mass Communication from Rochester College in Rochester, Michigan, and an MA in Communication with an emphasis in media studies from Wayne State University in Detroit. Zenobia has also taught the college course 鈥淭he Effects of Media on 猫咪社区,鈥� as an adjunct professor in Detroit. Zenobia is a member of NABJ, SABJ, SPJ, and the Ida B. Wells Society for Investigative Reporting. She lives in Seattle, and speaks English and AAVE.
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