Tuesday, May 06, 2008

New Hatreds

And old ones. To the side is a recent Candorville comic strip. So, what IS this speech MLK Jr was working on when he was assassinated? It was a speech about the direction this country was headed. By 1968, MLK Jr had become depressed by the economic status quo in the US and he'd begun working for the poor, trying to empower them. And, quite likely, he was assassinated for it.

Well, I came across a blog that had the title: "Why America May Go To Hell." The blog entry was: 

Those were the words of Rev. Wright, perhaps? No. Rev. King. From a draft of the speech he would have given 40 years ago today if not for the assassin’s bullet.
That was all. The ENTIRE entry. Basically, what this fool is saying is that it's a good thing King was assassinated because he, like Rev. Wright, hated America, Americans, and White Folk in particular.

Except NOTHING could have been further from the truth! So I commented:
And? So? He didn't curse the US. He was saying how the country may go to hell in a handbasket if things continued as they were. And you know what? They did. And it did. And it continues to do so. Know why? Pretty much because Republicans have run the country the vast majority of the time SINCE MLK's assassination. King was concerned over the country's direction. "To his family, King was murdered because he was no longer the King of the March on Washington, simply asking for the whites only signs to come down. He had grown radical: the King of 1968 was trying to build an interracial coalition to end the war in Vietnam and force major economic reforms--starting with guaranteed annual incomes for all. " Click for Washington Post article. He was concerned with the social well-being of ALL Americans, not just Blacks. You shouldn't make cryptic statements like this that will just cause more hatred.

The result? This person, whoever he is, made a very hateful statement against a man who had done nothing but good for the US, especially the minorities, including Jews, living here. And, as the comic strip above depicts, it's amazing how things can be taken completely out of context to serve a twisted purpose.

Now, I don't know where the cartoonist is going with this. Will he claim Wright is really an OK person? I doubt it. Wright, unlike MLK, is a crazy nut case. Even Obama finally COMPLETELY DENOUNCED him and was very angry at the remarks Wright has publicly made recently (and you can find them, and Obama's responses, all over YouTube, so I'm not linking here).

1 comment:

avishalom said...

"Basically, what this fool is saying is that it's a good thing King was assassinated because he, like Rev. Wright, hated America, Americans, and White Folk in particular."

Honestly, where do you draw this inference regarding what "this fool" meant? I mean, really, look again and maybe think for a moment while you are at it.

Yes, what you quoted was the whole entry. But take a look at the blog, and you might draw a rather different conclusion.

If it helps you in your inference-drawing exercise, you might focus your attention on this category.