Martin Luther King Day
Posted by
Kevin
Martin Luther King is the greatest American to have ever lived. The contest is not in doubt. Dr. King was the first American to effectively demand of the country that it live up to its ideals. He demanded that White America start actually trying to be America, and in many ways, he succeeded. This country, while still far from its ideals, is closer to them because of Dr. King’s work. The Civil Rights movement pre-dated Dr. King by sixty to eighty years, depending on how you wish to view history, but Dr. King built upon the successes of those earlier movements and achieved a remarkable breakthrough. Dr. King and his movement refused to accept that White Americans would not live up to the ideals in their Constitution and persevered until, at least officially, they did. The struggle is far from over, but Dr. King and his movement achieved more towards the goal of true equality than probably anyone before or since.
Some links:
Dave Neiwert’s series on eliminationism in the United States continues with a look at Sundown Towns.
Robert Stein draws a line between Dr. King’s work and the rise of Barack Obama.
