Martin Luther King quotes that don't make white people comfortable

[gollygee]

It appears that selectively quoting Dr. Martin Luther King is again in fashion at DU. I suggest we collect some quotes that are not so comforting to our white supremacist society.

Edit: Yeah I could put this in GD, but I promise you they people who do this will all read it here. Hmm maybe I'll put it there too anyway. We'll see how things go.

My submissions:

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. The reality of substantial investment to assist Negroes into the twentieth century, adjusting to Negro neighbors and genuine school integration, is still a nightmare for all too many white Americans. White America would have liked to believe that in the past ten years a mechanism had somehow been created that needed only orderly and smooth tending for the painless accomplishment of change. Yet this is precisely what has not been achieved. [….] These are the deepest causes for contemporary abrasions between the races. Loose and easy language about equality, resonant resolutions about brotherhood fall pleasantly on the ear, but for the Negro there is a credibility gap he cannot overlook. He remembers that with each modest advance the white population promptly raises the argument that the Negro has come far enough. Each step forward accents an ever-present tendency to backlash.

". . . for two centuries the Negro was enslaved and robbed of any wages–potential accrued wealth which would have been the legacy of his descendants. All of America’s wealth today could not adequately compensate its Negroes for his centuries of exploitation and humiliation.”

First, 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's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" 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: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

[tishaLA]

1. "Race card! Race card!"

[Number23]

12. Nailed it!

[jeff47]

2. When you gonna post the uncomfortable parts? (nt)

[Chiquitita]

3. on the main job of white feminists regarding race, for example

Here's another quotation calling similarly for white people, particularly white feminists, to take responsibility for combatting their own racism and educating themselves. People should be familiar with this disappointment in the quotes you cite and this one. I think the point isn't to make us uncomfortable, but to insist that we be accountable for making a "mass effort to reeducate" ourselves.


"One issue that is of major concern to us and that we have begun to publicly address is racism in the white women's movement. As Black feminists we are made constantly and painfully aware of how little effort white women have made to understand and combat their racism, which requires among other things that they have a more than superficial comprehension of race, color, and Black history and culture. Eliminating racism in the white women's movement is by definition work for white women to do, but we will continue to speak to and demand accountability on this issue."

(1974 Statement from the Combahee River Collective) http://circuitous.org/scraps/combahee.html

[JustAnotherGen]

4. And out of that

Has grown Womanism.

[gollygee]

5. I don't think the point was discomfort

but I do think the point white people generally have for quoting carefully selected MLK quotes is for our own comfort.

[lovemydog]

6. Yes, he accurately identifies

the sense of superiority that makes so many white people believe they have so little to learn.

Thank you for sharing this, gollygee. White people have a lot to learn about black history and black experiences. And it doesn't just end with 'okay, now I know everything and I'll just pontificate from my high horse.'

Learning never ends. I love this forum because so much learning arises from dialogue.

[gollygee]

7. We are continually being socialized

so long as we keep getting socialized, we have to keep fighting against it. This is why I hate how we've turned "racist" into a dichotomy - either you are and you're a horrible person, or you aren't and you don't have to think about it. All of us who are white are continually socialized as part of our white supremacist society, and we all have to work on it. That does not mean we are horrible people.

[lovemydog]

8. Yes, it is not a dichotomy.

So often when someone says 'that's a bit racist' the white person replies something along the lines of 'I'm not a racist! Stop calling me racist!' That false dichotomy is prevalent among white people who self-identify as liberal or progressive.

[gollygee]

9. That reminds me of this article:

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/11-ways-white-america-avoids-taking-responsibility-its-racism

Specifically, this part:

What would it be like if you could simply give us feedback, have us graciously receive it, reflect, and work to change the behavior?”

Recently a man of color sighed and said,

“It would be revolutionary.”

[lovemydog]

10. LOL, so true.

Thanks for that article gg.

[ismnotwasm]

11. K&R

We NEED to be uncomfortable--at the least-- about that shit.

[yardwork]

13. His comments about white moderates are still true today, imo

As a white woman, it is frustrating each election cycle to hear how the Democrats need to win over "moderates" and "independents" because they can't decide who to support.

People will identify as "moderate" as if it is something to be proud of, as if being essentially ignorant about politics, economics, and foreign policy is not just ok, but a virtue.

Jesus also despised "the lukewarm."

Good quotes.

[qwlauren35]

14. This one...

"I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action";

What strikes me about this quote is that King's idea of "direct action" that white moderates couldn't deal with was sit-ins, marches/demonstrations and boycotts. Nothing violent. Just kinda "in your face". And here we are again. White moderates are not comfortable with NON-VIOLENT in-your-face tactics.

Being the house niggra I am, I'm not advocating violent revolution. I'm comfortable... but I support, and am willing to help fund, any "direct action" of the MLK type. It is rather amusing how white people sit up and take notice when we riot, but when we have non-violent protests, it garners no sympathy, no recognition of the seriousness of our issues. People are DYING and that is why we are taking "direct action". It shouldn't take a riot to get some attention.

[1StrongBlackMan]

15. LOL ... That's "House Niggress"! ... I'm the "House Niggra"! ...

This takes us back the Thread (ChiTownKev's I believe) that Black folks cain't get (protests) right!