-Caveat Lector-
~~for educational purposes only~~
[Title 17 U.S.C. section 107]
Myths of Martin Luther King
by Marcus Epstein
There is probably no greater sacred cow in
America than Martin Luther King Jr. The slightest
criticism of him or even suggesting that he isn�t
deserving of a national holiday leads to the usual
accusations of racist, fascism, and the rest of the
usual left-wing epithets not only from liberals, but
also from many ostensible conservatives and
libertarians.
This is amazing because during the 50s and 60s, the
Right almost unanimously opposed the civil rights
movement. Contrary to the claims of many neocons,
the opposition was not limited to the John Birch
Society and southern conservatives. It was made by
politicians like Ronald Reagan and Barry
Goldwater, and in the pages of Modern Age,
Human Events, National Review, and the Freeman.
Today, the official conservative and libertarian
movement portrays King as someone on our side
who would be fighting Jesse Jackson and Al
Sharpton if he were alive. Most all conservative
publications and websites have articles around this
time of the year praising King and discussing how
today�s civil rights leaders are betraying his legacy.
Jim Powell�s otherwise excellent The Triumph of
Liberty rates King next to Ludwig von Mises and
Albert J. Nock as a libertarian hero. Attend any IHS
seminar, and you�ll read "A letter from a
Birmingham Jail" as a great piece of anti-statist
wisdom. The Heritage Foundation regularly has
lectures and symposiums honoring his legacy. There
are nearly a half dozen neocon and left-libertarian
think tanks and legal foundations with names such
as "The Center for Equal Opportunity" and the
"American Civil Rights Institute" which claim to
model themselves after King.
Why is a man once reviled by the Right now
celebrated by it as a hero? The answer partly lies in
the fact that the mainstream Right has gradually
moved to the left since King�s death. The influx of
many neoconservative intellectuals, many of whom
were involved in the civil rights movement, into the
conservative movement also contributes to the King
phenomenon. This does not fully explain the picture,
because on many issues King was far to the left of
even the neoconservatives, and many King admirers
even claim to adhere to principles like freedom of
association and federalism. The main reason is that
they have created a mythical Martin Luther King Jr.,
that they constructed solely from one line in his "I
Have a Dream" speech.
In this article, I will try to dispel the major myths
that the conservative movement has about King. I
found a good deal of the information for this piece
in I May Not Get There With You: The True
Martin Luther King by black leftist Michael Eric
Dyson. Dyson shows that King supported black
power, reparations, affirmative action, and
socialism. He believes this made King even more
admirable. He also deals frankly with King�s
philandering and plagiarism, though he excuses
them. If you don�t mind reading his long discussions
about gangsta rap and the like, I strongly
recommend this book.
Myth #1: King wanted only equal rights, not
special privileges and would have opposed
affirmative action, quotas, reparations, and the
other policies pursued by today�s civil rights
leadership.
This is probably the most repeated myth about King.
Writing on National Review Online, There Heritage
Foundation�s Matthew Spalding wrote a piece
entitled "Martin Luther King�s Conservative Mind,"
where he wrote, "An agenda that advocates quotas,
counting by race and set-asides takes us away from
King's vision."
The problem with this view is that King openly
advocated quotas and racial set-asides. He wrote
that the "Negro today is not struggling for some
abstract, vague rights, but for concrete improvement
in his way of life." When equal opportunity laws
failed to achieve this, King looked for other ways.
In his book Where Do We Go From Here, he
suggested that "A society that has done something
special against the Negro for hundreds of years
must now do something special for him, to equip
him to compete on a just and equal basis." To do
this he expressed support for quotas. In a 1968
Playboy interview, he said, "If a city has a 30%
Negro population, then it is logical to assume that
Negroes should have at least 30% of the jobs in any
particular company, and jobs in all categories
rather than only in menial areas." King was more
than just talk in this regard. Working through his
Operation Breadbasket, King threatened boycotts of
businesses that did not hire blacks in proportion to
their population.
King was even an early proponent of reparations. In
his 1964 book, Why We Can�t Wait, he wrote,
No amount of gold could provide an adequate
compensation for the exploitation and
humiliation of the Negro in America down
through the centuries�Yet a price can be
placed on unpaid wages. The ancient common
law has always provided a remedy for the
appropriation of a the labor of one human
being by another. This law should be made to
apply for American Negroes. The payment
should be in the form of a massive program by
the government of special, compensatory
measures which could be regarded as a
settlement in accordance with the accepted
practice of common law.
Predicting that critics would note that many whites
were equally disadvantaged, King claimed that his
program, which he called the "Bill of Rights for the
Disadvantaged" would help poor whites as well.
This is because once the blacks received
reparations, the poor whites would realize that their
real enemy was rich whites.
Myth # 2: King was an American patriot, who
tried to get Americans to live up to their
founding ideals.
In National Review, Roger Clegg wrote that "There
may have been a brief moment when there existed
something of a national consensus a shared vision
eloquently articulated in Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I
Have a Dream" speech, with deep roots in the
American Creed, distilled in our national motto, E
pluribus unum. Most Americans still share it, but
by no means all." Many other conservatives have
embraced this idea of an American Creed that built
upon Jefferson and Lincoln, and was then fulfilled
by King and libertarians like Clint Bolick and
neocons like Bill Bennett.
Despite his constant invocations of the Declaration
of Independence, King did not have much pride in
America�s founding. He believed "our nation was
born in genocide," and claimed that the Declaration
of Independence and Constitution were meaningless
for blacks because they were written by slave
owners.
Myth # 3: King was a Christian activist whose
struggle for civil rights is similar to the battles
fought by the Christian Right today.
Ralph Reed claims that King�s "indispensable
genius" provided "the vision and leadership that
renewed and made crystal clear the vital connection
between religion and politics." He proudly admitted
that the Christian Coalition "adopted many elements
of King�s style and tactics." The pro-life group,
Operation Rescue, often compared their struggle
against abortion to King�s struggle against
segregation. In a speech entitled The Conservative
Virtues of Dr. Martin Luther King, Bill Bennet
described King, as "not primarily a social activist,
he was primarily a minister of the Christian faith,
whose faith informed and directed his political
beliefs."
Both King�s public stands and personal behavior
makes the comparison between King and the
Religious Right questionable.
FBI surveillance showed that King had dozens of
extramarital affairs. Although many of the pertinent
records are sealed, several agents who watched
observed him engage in many questionable acts
including buying prostitutes with SCLC money.
Ralph Abernathy, who King called "the best friend I
have in the world," substantiated many of these
charges in his autobiography, And the Walls Came
Tumbling Down. It is true that a man�s private life
is mostly his business. However, most
conservatives vehemently condemned Jesse Jackson
when news of his illegitimate son came out, and
claimed he was unfit to be a minister.
King also took stands that most in the Christian
Right would disagree with. When asked about the
Supreme Court�s decision to ban school prayer,
King responded,
I endorse it. I think it was correct. Contrary to
what many have said, it sought to outlaw
neither prayer nor belief in god. In a pluralistic
society such as ours, who is to determine what
prayer shall be spoken and by whom? Legally,
constitutionally or otherwise, the state
certainly has no such right.
While King died before the Roe vs. Wade decision,
and, to the best of my knowledge, made no
comments on abortion, he was an ardent supporter
of Planned Parenthood. He even won their Margaret
Sanger Award in 1966 and had his wife give a
speech entitled Family Planning A Special and
Urgent Concern which he wrote. In the speech, he
did not compare the civil rights movement to the
struggle of Christian Conservatives, but he did say
"there is a striking kinship between our movement
and Margaret Sanger's early efforts."
Myth # 4: King was an anti-communist.
In another article about Martin Luther King, Roger
Clegg of National Review applauds King for
speaking out against the "oppression of
communism!" To gain the support of many liberal
whites, in the early years, King did make a few
mild denunciations of communism. He also claimed
in a 1965 Playboy that there "are as many
Communists in this freedom movement as there are
Eskimos in Florida." This was a bald-faced lie.
Though King was never a Communist and was
always critical of the Soviet Union, he had
knowingly surrounded himself with Communists.
His closest advisor Stanley Levison was a
Communist, as was his assistant Jack O�Dell.
Robert and later John F. Kennedy repeatedly
warned him to stop associating himself with such
subversives, but he never did. He frequently spoke
before Communist front groups such as the National
Lawyers Guild and Lawyers for Democratic
Action. King even attended seminars at The
Highlander Folk School, another Communist front,
which taught Communist tactics, which he later
employed.
King�s sympathy for communism may have
contributed to his opposition to the Vietnam War,
which he characterized as a racist, imperialistic,
and unjust war. King claimed that America "had
committed more war crimes than any nation in the
world." While he acknowledged the NLF "may not
be paragons of virtue," he never criticized them.
However, he was rather harsh on Diem and the
South. He denied that the NLF was communist, and
believed that Ho Chi Minh should have been the
legitimate ruler of Vietnam. As a committed
globalist, he believed that "our loyalties must
transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our
nation. This means we must develop a world
perspective."
Many of King�s conservative admirers have no
problem calling anyone who questions American
foreign policy a "fifth columnist." While I
personally agree with King on some of his stands on
Vietnam, it is hypocritical for those who are still
trying to get Jane Fonda tried for sedition to
applaud King.
Myth # 5: King supported the free market.
OK, you don�t hear this too often, but it happens.
For example, Father Robert A. Sirco delivered a
paper to the Acton Institute entitled Civil Rights and
Social Cooperation. In it, he wrote,
A freer economy would take us closer to the
ideals of the pioneers in this country's civil
rights movement. Martin Luther King, Jr.
recognized this when he wrote: "With the
growth of industry the folkways of white
supremacy will gradually pass away," and he
predicted that such growth would "Increase the
purchasing power of the Negro [which in turn]
will result in improved medical care, greater
educational opportunities, and more adequate
housing. Each of these developments will
result in a further weakening of segregation."
King of course was a great opponent of the free
economy. In a speech in front of his staff in 1966 he
said,
You can�t talk about solving the economic
problem of the Negro without talking about
billions of dollars. You can�t talk about ending
the slums without first saying profit must be
taken out of slums. You�re really tampering
and getting on dangerous ground because you
are messing with folk then. You are messing
with captains of industry� Now this means
that we are treading in difficult water, because
it really means that we are saying that
something is wrong�with capitalism� There
must be a better distribution of wealth and
maybe America must move toward a
Democratic Socialism.
King called for "totally restructuring the system" in
a way that was not capitalist or "the antithesis of
communist." For more information on King�s
economic views, see Lew Rockwell�s The
Economics of Martin Luther King, Jr.
Myth # 6: King was a conservative.
As all the previous myths show, King�s views were
hardly conservative. If this was not enough, it is
worth noting what King said about the two most
prominent postwar American conservative
politicians, Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater.
King accused Barry Goldwater of "Hitlerism." He
believed that Goldwater advocated a "narrow
nationalism, a crippling isolationism, and a
trigger-happy attitude." On domestic issues he felt
that "Mr. Goldwater represented an unrealistic
conservatism that was totally out of touch with the
realities of the twentieth century." King said that
Goldwater�s positions on civil rights were "morally
indefensible and socially suicidal."
King said of Reagan, "When a Hollywood
performer, lacking distinction even as an actor, can
become a leading war hawk candidate for the
presidency, only the irrationalities induced by war
psychosis can explain such a turn of events."
Despite King�s harsh criticisms of those men, both
supported the King holiday. Goldwater even fought
to keep King�s FBI files, which contained
information about his adulterous sex life and
Communist connections, sealed.
Myth # 7: King wasn�t a plagiarist.
OK, even most of the neocons won�t deny this, but it
is still worth bringing up, because they all ignore it.
King started plagiarizing as an undergraduate. When
Boston University founded a commission to look
into it, they found that that 45 percent of the first
part and 21 percent of the second part of his
dissertation was stolen, but they insisted that "no
thought should be given to revocation of Dr. King�s
doctoral degree." In addition to his dissertation
many of his major speeches, such as "I Have a
Dream," were plagiarized, as were many of his
books and writings. For more information on King�s
plagiarism, The Martin Luther King Plagiarism
Page and Theodore Pappas� Plagiarism and the
Culture War are excellent resources.
When faced with these facts, most of King�s
conservative and libertarian fans either say they
weren�t part of his main philosophy, or usually they
simply ignore them. Slightly before the King
Holiday was signed into law, Governor Meldrim
Thompson of New Hampshire wrote a letter to
Ronald Reagan expressing concerns about King�s
morality and Communist connections. Ronald
Reagan responded, "I have the reservations you
have, but here the perception of too many people is
based on an image, not reality. Indeed, to them the
perception is reality."
Far too many on the Right are worshipping that
perception. Rather than face the truth about King�s
views, they create a man based upon a few lines
about judging men "by the content of their character
rather than the color of their skin" something we
are not supposed to do in his case, of course
while ignoring everything else he said and did. If
King is truly an admirable figure, they are doing his
legacy a disservice by using his name to promote an
agenda he clearly would not have supported.
<A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A>
DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER
==========
CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic
screeds are unwelcomed. Substance�not soap-boxing�please! These are
sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, mis-
directions and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with
major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought.
That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and
always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no
credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply.
Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector.
========================================================================
Archives Available at:
http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html
<A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html";>Archives of
[EMAIL PROTECTED]</A>
http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/
<A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/";>ctrl</A>
========================================================================
To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email:
SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Om
