Avradikaliseringen av Martin Luther King, Jr.
Den 20 januari firas Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. Förutom att vara en av den amerikanska historiens främsta figurer hör han sannolikt till en av de mest approprierade, vilket blir uppenbart varje gång han firas.
Ofta citeras hans legendariska ”I Have A Dream”-tal, medan hans mer svidande kritik av USA:s kapitalism och militär sopas under mattan. Förra året användes hans citat exempelvis i en reklam där Ram Trucks försökte sälja fler bilar, och häromdagen citerades han av vicepresidenten Mike Pence som försökte motivera varför Donald Trumps mur behöver byggas.
Så för varje fluffigt citat som delas av personer som sannolikt hade varit MLK:s meningsmotståndare om han fortfarande hade levt, kan det vara bra att minnas några av hans mer kompromisslösa citat som visar att han var långt mer radikal än vad vissa vill minnas.
”I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ’order’ than to justice”… ”Who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom.” – April 1963
”Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to re-educate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn.” – 1967
“Again we have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that Capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifice. The fact is that capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor.” – Maj 1967
”A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” – April 1967
”God didn't call America to engage in a senseless, unjust war as the war in Vietnam. And we are criminals in that war. We've committed more war crimes almost than any nation in the world. And we won't stop it because of our pride and our arrogance as a nation.” – 1967
Läs mer: ”Letter From A Birmingham Jail” (1963), ”Beyond Vietnam” (1967), ”The Three Evils of Society” (1967) och ”Where Do We Go From Here?” (1967) av Martin Luther King, Jr., samt ”Pence's shocking use of Martin Luther King's words” av CNN (2019) & ”Ram Trucks Commercial With Martin Luther King Jr. Sermon Is Criticized” av The New York Times (2018).