Martin Luther King’s hate mail eerily resembles criticism of the Black Lives Matter movement

[Kind of Blue]

"In the last year or so, as the Black Lives Matter movement has taken off, the cause has been criticized by (mostly) white people asking, 'Yeah, but what about this?'

It turns out that this argument has been in style for at least half a century.

Indeed, this type of discourse is nothing new, as we can see when we examine the hate mail that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. received during the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. It’s overwhelming how the fear of the status quo being changed has been something white America can’t stop thinking about–and loudly announcing how it’s a problem–for so long now. These messages could have been written yesterday in the comments of a Facebook post as easily as they were on stationery or in a telegram 50 years ago."




http://fusion.net/story/184032/black-lives-matter-martin-luther-king-hate-mail/

Seven pages of mail at The King Center. http://thekingcenter.org/archive/theme/4809

[lovemydog]

1. Indeed

it does.

[Kind of Blue]

2. There was no doubt back then, as

Bravenak so fiercely argued, that Dr. King was first and foremost a black liberation leader. Everybody knew it. I knew it upon my arrival here as a kid in 1967. That's when I realized that something was inherently wrong with being black.

[1StrongBlackMan]

9. And I'll bet that view went largely unchallenged ...

until you got to DU.

[Kind of Blue]

10. All credit goes to Bravenak.

It's been a pet peeve of mine for years, this removal of black liberation first from Dr. King and the wrath that came with it. I've read some brilliant articles on it but these letters from The King Center say it all.

I'm onto, I think, a pretty good article now about Dr. King and Malcolm X discussing how to work together that I didn't know anything about.

[JustAnotherGen]

3. Great find and I had no idea

The hate mail was online.

And yes - preach it! It does sound/read eerily familiar.

Oh - if you only you would be good little girls and boys.
Oh - if only I could pat you on the head and send you on the way.
Oh - if only you could understand . . . me before you. We'll get to your issues later. I promise promise stick a need in my eye and hope to die if I'm telling a lie.

[Kind of Blue]

4. LOL...stick a needle in my eye or

as my husband likes to joke, "Give supremacy another chance."

[Number23]

12. You nailed it. And I even said something similar about this in my thread where I noted my mom

liked Bernie Sanders. She was saying that BLM needed to be less antagonistic (which given my mother's history with the Black Panthers BLEW MY MIND) and I said that folks said the same thing about MLK and his crew all of the time.

This is just more proof.

[mountain grammy]

5. Yep, same old same old..

Tremendous wealth of history at The King Center. I've only visited online, but hope to visit in person next year.

[Kind of Blue]

6. D'uh and I'm just realizing that is the go-to site

for King material. I hope that you post, mountain grammy, your thoughts of the place for those of us who may never travel there. Thanks very much for your thoughts!

[Starry Messenger]

7. "A former friend of the Negro..."

With friends like that, who needs enemies??

[Kind of Blue]

8. So many letters that I can't pick the most hideous.

So far in reading, there are a few supporters but the preponderance is negative stuff.

"Correspondence January 21, 1967
Florida (FL)
Mr. Beal informs Dr. King that he believes the best way for African Americans to gain the support of Caucasian Americans is for them to earn their respect.

Correspondence January 12, 1968
Indiana (IN), South Africa
Mr. Starr shares his thoughts regarding the 'negro people,' suggesting they go back to Africa and organize civilization under Dr. King's leadership.

Letter from a Sympathizer
Writing under a pseudonym, the author suggests that the world is separate because that is the way that God intended it to be. The author pulls text from the Bible to support this idea. The author believes that society was equal with the separation and there is no need for Dr. King to continue his fight."

[Number23]

11. Good God, this is one HELL of a thread!!

And every single time someone whines about the "bowdownbernie" hash tag, I hope that they realize that they are joining a long, LONG line of people that have always been on the wrong side of history. 'Cause the whining about the bowdown hash tag could have absolutely been written by the same person whining "what's this black power business?"

[Kind of Blue]

13. Gurl, I'm enjoying these letters!

Good grief, the sentiments have not changed. In lieu of a reconciliation, that might help, as in South Africa and many other places, I guess our job is to make sure that even the simplest, easiest to remember history is not destroyed. Seriously, please let the revisionists STFU about this

[scarletwoman]

16. A truth and reconciliation commission ought to have been convened long ago.

We still need one, badly!

But I can just imagine the howls of outrage from all over the country over the very idea - especially from the historical revisionist right wing.

And I suspect that certain segments of the so-called "liberal" end of the political spectrum would come up with all sorts of reasons to find such an idea "impractical", "unnecessary", "too divisive", etc.

[Kind of Blue]

17. Yeah, scarletwoman. Since there's none

forthcoming, to me, then years to come of unraveling so many lies. I was reading the european american site and they complained of holding many educational meetings for white people, but they don't come. It's just easier to toss out, some really believe, than possibly believe Everything we've learned just might not be true and dig a little deeper.

[scarletwoman]

22. "...than possibly believe Everything we've learned just might not be true and dig a little deeper."

Well, when you're comfortable with what you believe, why disturb it? When some people want to dig deeper, it makes others uncomfortable. And those who feel that their comfort has been disturbed, get angry and resentful - we've been seeing that dynamic played out again and again right here on DU.

"Years to come of unraveling so many lies."

And the lies and distortions keep piling up...

[Kind of Blue]

23. Excellent, excellent points!

I have no idea what kind of a person I'd be if I didn't know or care that I was living in a delusion. Would I be so willing to dig deeper? Would I be outraged and stand with others under assault? Just putting myself in those shoes is chilling and brings clarity because I love my comforts. Who doesn't? I love the long passages of time not worrying about driving while black. I love feeling like a human being first, forgetting that I'm black and female and just BEing.

The lies are piling up but I actually look forward to and enjoy dispelling every one that comes my way. Let's celebrate the truths that are out there by bringing them to light

[scarletwoman]

34. Some people are moved to keep seeking out the truth, other people believe they already know it.

I have no idea what kind of a person I'd be if I didn't know or care that I was living in a delusion. Would I be so willing to dig deeper? Would I be outraged and stand with others under assault?

I think maybe the key to breaking through one's own delusions is just being willing to pay attention to the world around you and noticing when something isn't right. Then you have to have empathy, you have to care about what you've noticed. And if you genuinely care, you'll want to make sure you know the truth about what you're seeing, the truth about why something is as it is.

The lies are piling up but I actually look forward to and enjoy dispelling every one that comes my way. Let's celebrate the truths that are out there by bringing them to light

That's beautiful! Thank you so much for the inspiration!!

[truedelphi]

33. I have a highly educated friend with a big PhD after her name,

And she is more uncomfortable than anyone else I know about "digging into the issues."

She only rarely thinks beyond whatever the headlines are saying.

She also likes "logic" above everything else, when it is obvious to me that people pull off miracles every day of the week, that logic would tell them cannot happen.

Since I usually always go into investigating whatever the major headline matter is, I am often at odds with her, especially since she seems to indicate that anyone that won't accept what the Mainstream Media is telling us, must be a kook. (After all, the Talking Heads all have at least a Masters in Communication from some powerhouse University, and they wouldn't omit important details or tell us things that are not true. At least,t ht is how she seems to see it.)

[scarletwoman]

36. Sounds like someone who believes they already know all they need to know.

And it's no stretch at all, imo, to go from loving "logic" to loving "order".

I don't have the quote at hand, but the one I'm thinking of is from Dr. King, where he laments that the biggest obstacle to achieving civil rights isn't the out-and-out racist, it's the "moderates" who love order above all else.

[truedelphi]

38. That is a wonderful quote.

My PhDed friend just mentioned to me last night that it was sort of sad that the Black Lives Matter people tried to tie up the shopping district of Chicago, as after all, there are "other ways to get what they want to happen." (We are both born and raised Chicagoans, though I live in Calif. now.)

I wish I had thought to ask her just how the African American community can get things to happen other than taking to the street in protest.

And it was a peaceful protest to boot - so I don't see what the problem was. If the stores suffered, then too bad.

But people are killed by Chicago cops all the time. And not just people of color suffer - when I moved to Calif in the 1980's I was relieved that if out in San Francisco Bay area at night, I wouldn't be forced out of my car and molested if found driving in the wee hours of the Am, as was happening to young attractive women all the time in the Windy City environs. I was startled to find out that according to other DU'ers, this molestation activity was still rampant among the police force in Chicago all through the 2000's as well!

[Number23]

48. "they complained of holding many educational meetings for white people, but they don't come."

I'm SHOCKED. SHOCKED, I tells ya!!!



And I'm willing to bet everything that I own that the ones that DO come are the ones that don't actually NEED to come.

[Kind of Blue]

53. Truth!

Isn't that something? So many places that one doesn't even have to leave home to learn self-reflection and educate oneself about racism and I be their traffic is low.

[jtuck004]

14. Seems anyone who has ever tried to reclaim their freedom gets in the way of others.

If we ever quit fighting each other perhaps we can figure out new ways to keep from giving those we see as "the problem" our freedom in the first place.

[Kind of Blue]

19. I get the opening of your response

but don't really understand what you mean by the text that follows. Can you explain a little bit? Thanks.

[1StrongBlackMan]

24. It's code for ...

Stop being the divisive tool of the Oligarchy/1% by seeking relief from YOUR oppression, when we all should be fighting for MY relief from oppression ... that would also benefit you.

[Kind of Blue]

26. Wow! Mind blown. I could never have figured

that one out in a million years. Thanks, 1SBM!

[jtuck004]

28. Thank you. Glad you are getting some currency from being the owner of that one.

You probably deserve it.

[1StrongBlackMan]

35. Well ... Thank you! I guess. n/t

[jtuck004]

29. No, but maybe one day we will figure it out. Bye.n/t

[Kind of Blue]

32. See ya, oh cryptic one. Glad I got an explanation. n/t

[jtuck004]

40. Enjoy your privilege. n/t

[scarletwoman]

41. Excuse me, I just can't help but find it strange that you would say "Enjoy your privilege" to

African American posters in the African American Group.

What "privilege" should African Americans be enjoying? The "privilege" of being Black? The "privilege" of being a discriminated against minority? The "privilege" of having to fight against the whitewashing of MLK's work on behalf of Black Liberation?

Just what do you actually mean by this odd non sequitur you've dropped into this thread?

[Number23]

47. Your participation in this thread is ridiculous and unwanted. Please don't return.

Bad enough you're contributing absolutely nothing to this incredible conversation, but the nastiness of your nothing is just a bit too much.

[jtuck004]

49. "Throw 'em out if they don't agree." Speaking of nothing, you could run for pres with that

philosophy. lol.

[Number23]

50. And now, not only content with a bunch of nothing, you are now resorting to completely juvenile

and nonsensical personal attacks blissfully unaware that none one here cares about your insults.

If this is as good as you've got, no wonder we've never seen you in this forum and I sincerely doubt that any will mourn will you leave. Again, please do not return to this thread or forum.

[randys1]

65. YOu whine like MLK did, I guess that is what they think. If only you would take your

200 plus years of being beaten down over and over and smile, then maybe they could deal with you.

I dont know anymore, white privilege is so massive, that those blind to it are blinded by the very privilege they deny they have.

[Digital Puppy]

42. Again, looking for the "WTF is wrong with you?" emoji

Please tell me what 'privilege' you are talking about!


SMH...

[jtuck004]

43. You put me in mind of this guy...

[LanternWaste]

74. I avoid directly answering questions too if doing so would illustrate a bias.

I avoid directly answering questions too if doing so would illustrate a bias. It's much more convenient for us to cower behind vague implication rather than illustrating the courage of our convictions.

[JI7]

46. "we ever quit fighting each other" ? how are black people the ones fighting others when they just

want equality and fairness in the system ?

[Coolest Ranger]

15. This is why I can't understand

why so many who hate us love to cite him as the standard bearer for Black people. This clearly proves that even back then they hated everything he stood for.

[Kind of Blue]

18. Here's a bit from a transcript and video

I was going to post later http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=6101

"JAY: So why does the conservative icon president, Reagan, sign a declaration to have a Martin Luther King Day?

BALL: Well, I mean, in many ways it's--you know, Howard Zinn used to say that omission is worse than lying. If you lie to someone, you leave a trail; if you omit something, you leave no trail for people to investigate and discover the truth. Dr. King was probably too big to fully omit, and there was enough of a groundswell in this country and around the world, given even the anti-apartheid movement and other struggles that were happening at the time that were, you know, sort of capturing the minds of good, well-meaning people all around the world and in this country, a strong push to get some sort of commemoration for somebody who was so well loved that you can't omit him. So let's honor him. We'll prop him up every year. He did it begrudgingly, of course. I mean, Reagan didn't--. You know. And then every year we'll remind people of a version of King that didn't actually exist but that will help people settle into an acceptance of what's still going on, all of which, again, King was aggressively trying to organize us to wipe out.

JAY: I guess one part of it is good, 'cause at least it makes, every year, people talk about this and gives us an opportunity to have a discussion. But is this also about trying to eliminate the significance of that, you know, civil rights uprising in the 1960s, just how profound that was?

BALL: Well, in part it's to do just that. It's also to give the impression that that movement was successful and it could be put into the dustbins of history. You know, sort of from time to time, you know, happily we can look back on it and smile and have fond memories of the hard times that we've overcome and so on and so forth, and then, of course, forget that almost everything that Dr. King was trying to get us to get rid of was actually worsening--and to this day is in some aspects still worsening."

[truedelphi]

30. I have no idea of who Ball and Jay are, but

Ball is really getting to the central idea of it.

The Powers that Be use every opportunity to try and smear the icons that their assassinations have forced us to worship as very poor substitute for the real persons that were left dead in the street.

[Kind of Blue]

31. Powerful and so sad.

From the site, "Jared A. Ball is a father and husband. After that he is a multimedia host, producer, journalist and educator. Ball is also a founder of "mixtape radio" and "mixtape journalism" about which he wrote I MiX What I Like: A MiXtape Manifesto (AK Press, 2011) and is co-editor of A Lie of Reinvention: Correcting Manning Marable's Malcolm X (Black Classic Press, 2012). Ball is an associate professor of communication studies at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland and can be found online at IMIXWHATILIKE.ORG."

He was interviewed on The Real News and I think has become one of the hosts. "The Real News Network (TRNN) is a non-profit, view-supported daily video-news and documentary service. We don’t accept advertising, and we don’t accept government or corporate funding. TRNN is sustained by viewer donations and earned revenue."

[truedelphi]

37. I am glad that he is featured on The Real News.

he sounds like my sort of person.

[JI7]

20. i wonder why they left out economics in the letters

After all that was why they hated him wasn't it

[Kind of Blue]

21. Ha!

[1StrongBlackMan]

25. No ... that is why they KILLED him! n/t

[Kind of Blue]

27. Repeat...

[JustAnotherGen]

52. That needs to be an op in this group

If they hated/killed MLK for his Pro Labor (I Am A Man Campaign/Protests) -

Then why wasn't it in the hate mail?

My response - he went over the line when he hawked for equal pay, benefits, and perks for black union members.

[Kind of Blue]

54. Bingo!

All one has to do is search photos of who took part in that labor march. And that's what drew Dr. King to Memphis the day after he received the Nobel Prize, in solidarity with the black sanitation workers who had no voice.

He was connecting with new African nations throughout the '50s and into the '60s, upon their invitations, knowing fully well they'd join him in the fight against the colonialism there and racism here. Thoughts of his on tape in 1960 after visiting Nigeria and other countries , "I just returned from Africa a little more than a month ago and I had the opportunity to talk to most of the major leaders of the new independent countries of Africa and also leaders of countries that are moving toward independence. They are familiar with it and they are saying in no uncertain terms that racism and colonialism must go for they see the two are as based on the same principle, a sort of contempt for life, and a contempt for human personality." Wow!

Sure, the Poor People's March was a multiracial effort, but Dr. King was galvanized by the urban riots during the mid '60s to launch the march to Occupy D.C. "Urban riots must now be recognized as durable social phenomena. They may be deplored, but they are there and should be understood. Urban riots are a special form of violence. They are not insurrections. The rioters are not seeking to seize territory or to attain control of institutions. They are mainly intended to shock the white community. They are a distorted form of social protest. The looting which is their principal feature serves many functions. It enables the most enraged and deprived Negro to take hold of consumer goods with the ease the white man does by using his purse. Often the Negro does not even want what he takes; he wants the experience of taking. But most of all, alienated from society and knowing that this society cherishes property above people, he is shocking it by abusing property rights..."

On Vietnam, "Be non-violent toward Bull Connor;when I was saying, Be non-violent toward [Selma, Alabama segregationist sheriff] Jim Clark. There's something strangely inconsistent about a nation and a press that will praise you when you say, Be non-violent toward Jim Clark, but will curse and damn you when you say, 'Be non-violent toward little brown Vietnamese children.'"

[Number23]

67. An amazing contribution to an already amazing thread.

I am so glad that DUers who still know and understand King's true legacy still exist. Because there is alot of white washing and deliberate ignorance "out there" in the other threads. And it is absolutely revolting and maddening.

I am usually pretty good about ignoring the tsunami of stupid that blankets so much of this web site but the attempts by people to pretend that King's work was "race neutral" or that he wasn't "just" a fighter of violence and oppression and for the rights of his people and children is something that will make me come out swinging every single time.

[Kind of Blue]

71. You nailed it, Number23!

"or that he wasn't 'just' a fighter of violence and oppression and for the rights of his people and children."

Keyword from the I Have a Dream speech, "that my four little children." The man was speaking from his heart and soul in that speech in August of '63. The very next month, the church bombing that killed the 4 little girls. How on this earth can anyone be confused about Dr. King's prime directive and why the incredible need to make him race neutral?

[1StrongBlackMan]

68. You mean to tell me he wasn't hawking for economic justice for the white laborer ...

relative to the Kennedy family?

Wow. Must ... Stop ... Reading ... DU.

[JustAnotherGen]

69. I'm sorry 1strong

But you have to be strong and brave the truth.

But - there IS a It's Mr. JAG. And I'm the perpetual Fairy Godmother to four kids this year who wouldn't have Christmas without our shopping spree this morning!

If I could wave my magic wand for the economic justice warriors and make it be . . . I would. But I have some glass slippers to attend to!

[gollygee]

73. Ha!! n/t

[lovemydog]

39. K & R for the best current thread on DU.

[betsuni]

44. Me too what you said.

[Kind of Blue]

56. Aww. Thanks, betsuni!

[Kind of Blue]

55. Thank you, LMD!

It's been an incredible pleasure to shed some light on the darkness

[bravenak]

51. Damn damn damn!!

[Kind of Blue]

57. Thank YOU! My thanks to you is

on many levels, Bravenak. Brave isn't in your name for nothing

[bravenak]

58. This is an awesome thread. I felt so AGGRIEVED watching folks completely change history.

I have no idea why that thing was the thing that did me in. Leaving out the race of the strikers really pissed me off. Changing MLK from a Black Revolutionary Freedom Fighter to a "he was working for all of us against the OLIGARCHY," kinda guy just blew my mind. I seriously developed a new mindset that very day. Nope. I will not tolerate anymore bullshit. Any fakery will be pointed out, then I will move the fuck back on to my own life of not being severely ignorant. Anybody needing instruction will heretofore find it majorly necessary to find a tutor and pay them real actual money. I have no more time for foolishness on my rest of my life calendar. No time.

Like little kim says,
https://m.

[Kind of Blue]

61. As well you should feel aggrieved!

The pushback from that one simple fact is mind blowing. The "schooling" they tried to perpetrate once again proves they live in another reality. Your mindset to me has always been one that leads to clarity. Keep it coming and I'll be right there to help whenever I can

[Kind of Blue]

59. When I think of Dr. King this is what I see is his legacy.

[randys1]

66. When I think of Dr. King I think about how the FBI murdered him on behalf of white America

[Spazito]

60. This is an incredible thread...

I once went to the King Center online site, looking for a specific quote of his and ended up spending hours reading his speeches, etc, marveling all over again at his courage, strength and ability to move so many with simple truths.

The mail he received could well have been written today, sadly.

[Kind of Blue]

62. Thanks, Spazito.

Let's keep shining a light on woeful ignorance whenever we can
There is so much at The King Center that I'm itching to read.

[Spazito]

63. I need to go back to the site, I just scratched the surface when I visited last time and...

was uplifted by what I read then, another dose of that is sorely needed these days.

Fighting ignorance with simple truths is what MLK did and we need to pick up the torch and keep doing the same for sure.

[Kind of Blue]

64. "we need to pick up the torch and keep doing the same for sure."

Sounds like music to my ears. Amen to that!

[zappaman]

70. Did any of those hate mails mention "stockholm syndrome"?

Asking for a friend...

[Kind of Blue]

72. LOL! No but I did read some advice

such as we need to work harder, be moral, follow the way of the cross, communist influence is to blame, learn how to be Americans, blah-blah-blah.

I guess Stockholm Syndrome is the 21st century term to wrap all of the above up.

[Cha]

75. No, Martin Luther King did Not "hang his head in shame".. no matter how many suggested it.. and

neither will #BlackLivesMatter no matter much hate is heaped on them from either end of the spectrum.

Mahalo, Kind of Blue~

[Kind of Blue]

77. You're very, very welcome, Cha!

I wish I had the right Hawiaan response

I'd forgotten that the hate did and does come from both ends of the spectrum, and both slough it off like the fluff it is

[MADem]

76. Holy shit--and those nasty screeds were banged out on MANUAL typewriters, too!

Stove lids? Really?

What IS this Black Power business?? WAAAAH!!!!!!

I love the matter of fact characterizations as "adverse" with a red date stamp. They weren't going to let anything deter them. I'm glad they kept these records, though. Hate speech is nothing new, unfortunately.

[Kind of Blue]

78. I know! And some of them are so old

I don't even know what they're talking about! But they meant it to have banged out letters on typewriters or go send telegrams.

Yeah, I noticed the bulk of the hate mail are from 1966 onward. I bet there were tons more from before. I wonder if a forward thinking person decided to stop trashing the letters because the movement had grown much larger than they ever imagined.