'How MLK became an angry black man'

[Number23]

'How MLK became an angry black man'
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/16/us/king-birmingham-jail-letter-anniversary/index.html?iref=allsearch

"...The letter is one of the most intimate snapshots of a King most people don't know: An angry black man who once hated white people and, according to one scholar, was more dangerous than Malcolm X, a man King admired.

"Before everything else, (the letter) is a black man's cry of pain, anger and defiance," says Jonathan Rieder, author of the just-released "Gospel of Freedom," which looks at the "furious truth teller" revealed in King's classic letter.

King's blackness -- his fierce racial pride, his distinctively black Christian faith and his belief that most whites were "unconscious racists" -- is on full display in his letter, scholars say. The anger that drove King's letter would become more prominent in the speeches King gave until, literally, his last hours, Rieder says.

"If there was a YouTube in 1968 and some of King's sermons would have been captured, he would have been seen as a Jeremiah Wright," says Rieder, invoking the name of President Obama's fiery former pastor."

A damned interesting read!

Link to the Letter from a Birmingham jail - http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

[NOLALady]

1. And if he had lived,

"If there was a YouTube in 1968 and some of King's sermons would have been captured, he would have been seen as a Jeremiah Wright,"

If he had lived, some would hate him as much as they hate Jeremiah Wright, Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.

[Number23]

2. You got that right.

Though I have to admit to still being astonished by the 'whitewashing' of MLK (and yes, I mean that deliberately).

The man in that letter is very much the man I've grown up hearing about since I was old enough to remember. But I have seen people around here say that King was more concerned with "class" than race. He was a BLACK RIGHTS ACTIVIST -- he was one of THE GREATEST black rights activists. Black people are why he did what he did. Fighting for our rights was his life's work. It is why he was jailed. It was why he was killed.

It is nothing short of breathtaking to me what people have done to that man's story in order to a) minimize the inhuman treatment black people have suffered in this country and b) make King fit whatever social paradigm they've aligned themselves with in order to add some sense of validity to it.

[noiretextatique]

7. yes indeed

white supremacists, and their friends, hated King, and it bears repeating often. many white americans love the romanticized, white-washed version of king, but i don't think they would feel the same had he lived longer.

[Number23]

8. Some white folks, in their quest to be "cool", have stripped this man of everything that made

him what he was. And I mean literally STRIPPED him bare.

Suddenly, MLK was only killed because of his stance against the Vietnam war. Or because he was protesting the treatment of sanitation workers in Tennessee (I guess to these people the fact that black folks are over represented in the sanitary worker field TODAY let alone in the late 1960's appears to have flown over their heads) or because he was "shifting" away from "JUST" black rights to "more important" issues. His life's work to even the balance of power away from those who'd held it with an iron fist -- whether they'd deserved it or not -- for HUNDREDS of years was just an afterthought to the millions of white people who hated him, apparently.

It has been well-documented that MLK was becoming MORE militant as time marched on. That even he was getting impatient with his "non violence" approach particularly as he felt that alot of white people just didn't care and nothing was going to change. This article in the OP totally corroborates this. His letters, his speeches, his behavior in the years up to his death totally corroborates this.

In the more recent BS thread in GD using MLK to bash Obama, somebody actually posted that the speech in the OP was "MUCH" (all capital letters) more important than I have a Dream. When I asked them why, I guess they suddenly lost the ability to type because they never responded.

MLK was a beacon for social justice for ALL people. But anyone that thinks that this didn't start and end with his own people first and foremost doesn't know a damn thing about the man. And it's really just that simple.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

12. More militant? You know what is funny, on the brand spanking new "Larry Wilmore Nightly News"

show on Comedy central last night, Bill Burr of all people (white comedian), in response to a question about nonviolent protest, said that the violent protest is what ultimately works, that most wont pay attention till there are consequences for not paying attention, I said that last part but assume that is what he meant.


the new Larry Wilmore show is fantastic


I will read the letter later from King in jail...

thanks

Jeremiah Wright was hated for telling the truth, imagine how hated MLK would be if alive today...

And now you know why he isnt alive, today.




http://www.cc.com/shows/the-nightly-show

check out his show, very very good

[Number23]

13. Thanks so much for the link. I've been hearing about this show and hope to get the chance to

check it out.

Jeremiah Wright was hated for telling the truth, imagine how hated MLK would be if alive today...

That is NOTHING but the truth. Despite the numbers of people (mostly white) acting as though MLK was revered by whites back then. He was despised and feared. Hell, even today there are still alot of white folks that still hate him. They show up to express their hatred every chance they get but really love to show out on January 15 above all other days.

[NoJusticeNoPeace]

14. Will never forget what a WWII vet relative told me when he heard about MLK getting holiday

he was furious they would give one to him and not Patton...


There was and still is zero respect for MLK by many of them.

They say shit like MLK was important but have a history like this


http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/steve-scalise-and-eight-republicans-who-voted-against-mlk-day

[1StrongBlackMan]

15. True ...

Despite the numbers of people (mostly white) acting as though MLK was revered by whites back then. He was despised and feared.

\
But he was less hated and FEARED than Malcolm ... so MLK was loved! Or, something like that.

[JustAnotherGen]

16. Kick

[Number23]

3. kick The whitewashing is STILL HAPPENING and seems to NEVER stop

[JustAnotherGen]

4. First many thanks for posting this

Second - you are correct - he is literally being white washed into something others can use for their means . . . right here at DU.

Third - The truth hurts.

And so this thread too will go without being noticed.

[Number23]

5. Yeah, you see how well-received it was when I first posted it?

Meanwhile a clueless few continue to try to use this man to insult this president seemingly OBLIVIOUS to how disgusting and offensive that is. Obama enjoys 90% approval in the black community, King is probably a bit higher. By continuing to use King as a cudgel to bludgeon Obama, Glenn Greenwald and his idiotic "fans" are deliberately stirring the shit. And they know it.

But I have to say that the recing crew for this type of idiocy appears to have hit the road. The poster quoting Greenwald did another droolingly stupid "King vs. Obama" post a few months ago which got damn near 300 recs. This last one didn't come close. And I'm routinely seeing stuff sitting at the top of the Greatest Page with 70, 80 recs. This place is a shell of its former self in so many ways it would be impossible to count.

[JustAnotherGen]

6. Kick!

You should post this in GD.

[freshwest]

9. Late night kick and rec from the West Coast.

[sheshe2]

10. KnR

[rbrnmw]

11. KICK

[lovemydog]

17. Thanks!

Yes, Letter From A Birmingham Jail is one of the great writings in American history imho.