Martin Luther King, His Legacy, and His Dream

While his 88th birthday was yesterday, today is the day usually designated to celebrate the life and achievements of Martin Luther King. As this is a community focused on social and societal issues, it is only fitting that there would be a post dedicated to him.

As an Atlanta native, MLK is crucial to the city's history - he grew up in Atlanta, and while his activism work has been mostly in Alabama, he is seen as one of ours to cherish. Indeed, there is a museum called the Center for Civil and Human Rights, which I had the privilege of visiting this past summer, in downtown Atlanta which is dedicated to his works and the work of modern activists around the world.

While he is almost universally lauded as a civil rights icon, there is a sharp divide over what his significance is today in light of current events, with each side praising different aspects of him. Much like the Bible, people cherry-pick what they like to hear from his speeches.

Take, for example, the interpretation of one of his most famous lines: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

To some, this quotation implies that King envisioned an America that will move beyond racial identity. The election of Barack Obama in 2008 seemed to portend that America is moving towards that direction, and some had even argued that his dream had already become reality. For others, this line was more indicative of a distant dream that is not even close to passing yet, and in the meanwhile, the focus on race must be maintained.

There is also disagreement over whether moving towards a post-racial, "colorblind" America was even a goal of his. While this quote seems to support that claim, people who support race-based affirmative action programs tend to use the quote "A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for the Negro" (Where Do We Go From Here?) in support.

There is also a profound disagreement over King's stance on violence, riots, and hatred towards whites, and this was especially salient after the Ferguson and Baltimore incidents.

While some had argued that because King's activism was about peaceful demonstrations and the equality of whites with everyone else, and therefore he would strongly disapprove of violence and hatred towards whites, others have a different view.

In support, people have used the lines "I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate..." from Letter from a Birmingham Jail and "Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn..." to argue that King harbored resentment against whites AND that such resentment is completely justified even in the modern day. On the subject of riots, I'm sure you've seen on social media in the last couple of years, there are the quotes "A riot is the language of the unheard" and "[Riots] are born of the greater crimes of the white society.", which runs in complete contrast to even people like Obama, who described Ferguson/Baltimore rioters as "criminals and thugs".

I think his legacy is actually quite complicated and at times contradictory - anyone can take what they want from his words and use them to justify their own views. I think King himself often changed his mind, making it impossible to have a simple, unified view of his legacy.

I personally think that a post-racial colorblind society should be our goal (feel free to disagree with me on that) and that our laws should be completely neutral, but we are clearly not there yet in terms of enforcement of laws and how people are treated (I have always said "The problem with colorblindness is not that people are colorblind but rather that too many people are not, even if they say they are"). Thus, we must work with people who have biases and assumptions based on skin color/complexion. I also think that regardless of what MLK may have said at one point or another, violence and resentment against those with a different skin color, even if they are societally dominant, is unjustified because it is unfair to make generalizations about everyone based on the actions of a few.

What do you think his legacy was, and what he stood for? What conditions have improved, beyond the obvious end of segregation, from when he was alive to today? What conditions have not, or have gotten worse? Would he be considered a radical today? Are there any parts of his legacy that you don't necessarily agree with?