| By Preston Mitchum - Apr 4th, 2008 at 10:06 am EDT |
| Also listed in: Campus Progress Blog |
Photo courtesy discoverblackheritage, used under a creative commons license
Today is the 40th anniversary of the tragic assassination of the beloved Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. I hope that we can all take time and remember all the great things that he has done for this society; a society that sometimes seems unwilling to change the status quo. It is imperative that we never forget his general teachings. Dr. King not only fought for civil rights, but humanity of all. Although 40 years have passed, I still cannot believe that we had a man who believed in a cause so much that he died for it.
Martin Luther King Jr showed so much passion and committment to equality, and if he never stood up for civil rights, I don't know where we would be today. In honor of his 40th anniversary, people will be gathering in Memphis to march for the legacy of Dr. King. May his words continue to inspire us and may his “dream” continue to motivate us to do what is right for our family, friends, and ourselves.
I am incedibly thankful for those before us that have sacrficed their lives so that the things we are doing today are possible. When you think about it 40 years is not that long ago... We have definitely come a long way.
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To pretend as though you are concerned with the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. only to degrade it with to score a cheap and irrelevant political point, is truly a shame. A suicide bomber did not kill Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. contrary to what you may have been told in your history books.
The FBI lead by J. Edgar Hoover initiated a militant mis-information campaign against Dr. King, wiretapping his phone and tracking his every move. They believed he was a member of the Communist Party. His opposition to the Vietnam War brought heated opposition to Dr. King from the U.S. government, the civil rights movement, and others. The day he was shot, he was campaigning for the fair treatment of sanitation workers in Memphis to which any number of people would have been opposed. There were many white racists in the deep south who would have loved to take his life because of his message for racial equality.
You can't imagine one person that would do that? Then you simply lack imagination and should be ashamed for making such a simpleminded statement on this blog.
This was not a statement supporting suicide bombers at all. The purpose was to simply say that they put their lives on the line. There was definitely no comparison.
Like Erika said, it was only saying that suicide bombers die for a cause that is important to them, no matter how screwed up it may be. I certainly am not justifying what they have done. People are just misinterpreting my statements.
First of all, let's get this straight. Dr. King was a spokesman for a movement and NOT the movement himself. Without a doubt, he is a man of great significance and who contributed to making this country just one step towards being more "humane". But turning him into the symbol of the movement is what the dominant classes of this society, which is not "sometimes" unwilling to change the status quo, but always, have tried to do to subdue people into having "dreams" and nothing more. More than a man of dreams, Dr. King was a man of action. He worked with masses of people in strikes, protests and boycotts, which, if they were to happen today, would feel anything but pleasant to those only concerned with their families, friends and themselves.
"I still cannot believe that a man who died for a cause was assassinated."
Excuse me? Are you kidding me? Yeah, that happens ALL of the time. To piggy-back on what the previous comment said, please pick up a history book that isn't from your local high school. That might get you started, but if you need help, I could give you a whole slew of folks who've been assassinated and who were for a cause. And a great number of them were executed by people very close to "home".
Then you could start imagining way more people who would assassinate anyone who is actually for a cause and not just about the rhetoric of a cause.
Yeah, history's much uglier than you thought. So meanwhile, until you actually study Dr. King and the movement and what his legacy means, it would behove you NOT to make statements about him or the civil rights or any movement you don't have a clue about. Yeah, surprisingly, that would have to include comments on suicide bombers as well.
Secondly, I did not say that no one else has ever been assassinated for fighting for something that they strongly believe in (ever heard of P.M. Benazir Bhutto?). I was simply saying that I still cannot believe that people would actually do something like this.
I have picked up many books (and have actually read them to, to your surprise). I have written many essays (and a thesis) on the civil rights movement. You have totally mis-interpreted everything that I have said. Notice, you assumed what I meant. I actually didn't say anything that you are arguing for.