Does EVERYONE revere Martin Luther King?

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

You would think this is a no-brainer 100% poll question, like saying you like George Washington, but though MLK is very, very popular not quite everybody is one the same page.

It looks like there's about 15% of the nation that are what I'd call "comfortable racists;" white people who are so up front they are willing to tell a stranger on the phone they don't like MLK, and who even say race relations were better in the 1950s. (A white person saying race relations were better in the 1950s is pretty gross!)

What really surprises me here is that 28% of African Americans say race relations today are worse than in the 1950s and 1960s. I was born in the deep south and actually remember segregated facilities like pools, bathrooms and water fountains, so I don't know what to make of that. It would be interesting to see if there's a big age-split in that number, with older AA people who remember the 50s-60s saying things are better.

Another striking result: 90% of the time, married people are more Republican/conservative, single people are more Democratic/liberal. The result here suggesting that MLK is more popular with married people than unmarried people is one of the few times I've seen single people hold the more reactionary opinion. No idea why.

______________________

79% Have Favorable Opinion of Dr. Martin Luther King
Monday, January 21, 2008

Seventy-nine percent (79%) of Americans have a favorable opinion of Dr. Martin Luther King. A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey found that just 15% offer an unfavorable opinion.

Positive views of the Civil Rights Leaders are found across partisan and demographic lines. He is viewed favorably by 84% of women, 73% of men, 84% of Democrats, 73% of Republicans, 83% of Investors, 75% of non-Investors, 83% of those who are married, 74% of unmarried, 81% of those under 30 and 78% of those over 65.

Among African-Americans, 74% of those surveyed had a Very Favorable opinion of Dr. King while 26% had a Somewhat Favorable opinion. Thirty-four percent (34%) of White voters have a Very Favorable opinion of King while 41% have a Somewhat Favorable opinion.

There is also high regard for the practical legacy of Dr. King and other Civil Rights leaders of his era. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of Americans say that race relations in the United States are better today than they were in the 1950s and ‘60s. Just 14% believe things have gotten worse. Twelve percent (12%) say things are about the same.

Among White Americans, 71% say things have gotten better while 11% say worse. Fifty-three percent (53%) of African-Americans say things have gotten better while 28% say worse.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/lifestyle/general_lifestyle/79_have_favorable_opinion_of_dr_martin_luther_king

[cgrindley]

1. I don't actually revere him

I don't believe that anyone should be revered. I have a generally positive impression of him. I support his political ideals. I, obviously, have tremendous antipathy to his religious views. I don't care much for his character as an academic and I'm unsure what to think about his abilities as a speechwriter (the speeches are excellent but are at least partially cribbed from a variety of generally unacknowledged sources). But he did tremendous good in presenting a positive and popular face on civil rights--which did lead to legislation being passed sooner rather than later. I think that people have forgotten that towards the end of his life that his political views were not winning him many friends.

The whole idea of a "revered" figure is nonsense. People are complex. Race relations are certainly better today than they have ever been. Some of that is part of King's legacy.

Yeah... I'm favorable, just not Very Favorable.

Tell me... do you revere Thomas Jefferson? because, quite arguably, he did more for human freedom than any man who ever lived. but revere the slave rapist? certainly not.

[Bicoastal]

2. I think it may have something to do with the idiots behind e-mails like this:

http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/outrage/mlking.asp

Shocking, isn't it?

[cgrindley]

3. But as Snopes points out

King did plagiarize his PhD. He did borrow at least a bit from other speeches to write his own (a minor sin in anyone's books). His associates did say that he was a bit of a ladies man. He was a flawed man who really had a tremendous impact on civil rights. But he wasn't a saint. Like all great men, he was flawed. To paint an icon of King is to do his memory an extraordinary disservice.

[Captain Hilts]

4. I revere his cause, not him. A.Philip Randolph, Mary McLeod Bethune, Ralph Bunche, Walter...

white, Joe Rauh, Eleanor Roosevelt, Harold Ickes, Thurghood Marshall, Dorothy Height, Marian Anderson....

I don't like the focus on one man, actually. A lot of folks were in the trenches - at personal risk.

[lurky]

5. I'm paraphrasing a quote I once heard:

If you want to worship someone, don't learn too much about them.

We are all human, and have our personal failings, King included. However, his accomplishments far outweigh any of these criticisms. To many of us, he represents the dream of America as we wish it was and as we hope it will be. Please don't mess with that.

[cgrindley]

6. About those 28% who think that things have gotten worse...

perhaps those are the ones, maybe, who don't like other races.