Ernie:
What???
King’s enemy, as far as I can tell, was basically the same society you praised
as the “just and decent”
If what you just said was true, then King would have hated Eisenhower, which
was anything but the case since MLK was a Republican (until the late 1960s)
and he would not have attended the schools he did, or appealed to white
Americans with any hope at all of getting a Civil Rights cause off the ground.
Sure, maybe Ike could have done more, but actions like sending in the
National Guard at Little Rock to end school segregation were real
and effective.
King's enemy was the KKK, local buffoons like Bull Connor, even the ghost
of Woodrow Wilson -who had institutionalized racism in government in his day.
King could mobilize white people for his cause in part because of -at the time-
the continued relevance of the mainline churches, many of whose members
helped-out in one way or another. Even two Unitarians were killed in the South
at one incident when they traveled there on behalf of Civil Rights.
I think you just clarified that you really admire him for his intellect, not
necessarily his activism.
Actually both, but you can almost say that the order is the reverse of how you
just characterized it. That is, I more admire him for his activism.
However, in his case intellect played a major role. Not many activist preachers
that I know about can see the relevance of Zoroastrianism to anything. King was
also
more than willing to borrow ideas from Hinduism, viz Gandhi, hence I also admire
him for the "Comparative Religion" dimension of his life.
King also learned how to use high order political skills. How else could he have
worked out ways to bring together such disparate elements as the Southern
Christian
Leadership group, Randolph's trade union people, northern churches, student
activists,
an entire menagerie of people working toward a common goal?
That is, which is so unlike you, he knew practical politics inside and out.
I would not characterize him as a political junkie, but he had that depth
of knowledge. He was idealistic, for sure, but he also was very practical
in what he did and was able to be practical because of his "nuts and bolts"
knowledge. And you have studiously avoided any such thing. Why?
I now think I know, about which more later, but in any case, this kind
of knowledge is essential in any kind of political context. And King had it.
This said, he can be criticized too. I mean, it just isn't "cool" to become a
doctor
of anything by writing a largely plagiarized dissertation. But nobody knew that
at the time.
There also was his philandering, which was legendary. Personally I am not
judgmental
about this, but what I do object to was the gross hypocrisy involved since his
professed
'family values' were so dramatically at odds with his conduct. That is, if he
had been
a sort of black Hugh Hefner from the get go, all right, at least that is honest
and
everyone knows where they stand -including the women in the picture. But MLK
was basically pretending to be what he was not.
Anyway, King had real guts. He was willing to go to jail if that was what it
took
to make a point. And he led marches where -while he was lucky- he might have
gotten killed long before he actually was killed. And he did all of this while,
at the same time, he was "married with children."
I once characterized him as having done an atom bomb's worth of bad
and a hydrogen bomb's worth of good. That about sums it up.
Billy
From: Centroids
Sent: Tuesday, February 26, 2019 6:03 AM
To: Billy Rojas
Cc: RadicalCentrism@googlegroups.com
Subject: Points Re: MLK Message [ RC ] Critique of Religion etc
Hi Billy,
> What...was the key to his appeal and effectiveness?
> What was the essence of his message?
>
> Good questions. Not sure that I can answer either all that well.
Thanks for your honesty. I do remember your article about King, but I think you
just clarified that you really admire him for his intellect, not necessarily
his activism.
Anyway, the points I wanted to make are:
A. King is a good role model for the kind of political change I want to make
In the world (since this has been a perennial question of yours)
B. King’s enemy, as far as I can tell, was basically the same society you
praised as the “just and decent” world you want to recreate (which has been a
perennial concern of mine)
Something to think about...
E
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