Dear White People: Stop Whitewashing Martin Luther King Jr
The third Monday in January is Martin Luther King Jr Day. His example and his words are needed today, more than ever. Unfortunately, Martin Luther King Jr. has been commodified and his prophetic witness reduced to easy sound bites. Institutions of violence, such as the FBI-the very institution that surveilled King and encouraged him to commit suicide, local law enforcement agencies-whose ties to white supremacy are becoming clearer by the day, and various military pages will post inspiring quotes from Martin Luther King Jr on their social media pages. (See the example from the FBI twitter page from last year). Even more disappointing will be the ways in which white people-from across the political spectrum will elevate certain quotes from Martin Luther King Jr, while downplaying his radical witness against racism, militarism, and economic exploitation.
https://twitter.com/FBI/status/1219228329703870464
The quotes most likely to be used by both institutions of violence and individual white people will emphasize love, unity, and nonviolence while ignoring King’s words speaking out against injustice, racism, and state violence. Shamefully, King’s words have been weaponized to try and silence Black and brown people who are speaking out against racism. Selective quotes have been used to condemn the Black Lives Matters protesters as too “violent” and “radical.” King’s words on love have been used to condemn as “hateful” those who demand that racists be held accountable for their violent actions and words.
In other words, these quotes, often ripped out of context from MLK’ s larger speeches against racism, militarism, and greed paint a picture of a docile, kind, figure who just wanted people to get along. This image of King is a radical distortion of his message. The fact that some individuals feel comfortable quoting King’s words on love without mentioning his condemnation of racism and state violence demonstrates that the King currently venerated so openly each year is a figment of the dominant culture’s imagination. The fact that institutions of state violence feel comfortable quoting Martin Luther King Jr and claiming that they are advancing his dream of ending racism and injustice, is evidence that King’s message has been co-opted and drained of its radical witness.
Yes, King preached love for one’s enemies and advocated nonviolent resistance as the best way to push for justice, but tied to his message of love and nonviolence was condemnation of white supremacy and state violence. For instance, despite what their social media may say, the US military is not a beacon of racial harmony just because it is integrated and there are a handful Black and brown people serving in positions of leadership. Militarism and the US’ obsession to war is an evil that must condemned. And, King, a year before his death, in his “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence” did just that. In his speech he condemned the United States’ addiction to war and violence which he tied to racism and America’s obsession with material wealth and things.
He states:
“I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
King also speaks of the devastation of war and centers the victims:
“They watch as we poison their water, as we kill a million acres of their crops. They must weep as the bulldozers roar through their areas preparing to destroy the precious trees. They wander into the hospitals, with at least twenty casualties from American firepower for one "Vietcong"-inflicted injury. So far we may have killed a million of them—mostly children.”
His words, blasting the unjust war in Vietnam can and should be used to condemn the unjust “War on Terror” that has seen hundreds of thousands (if not more) civilians killed and made refuges of millions of more. Drone strikes, torture sites, indefinite detentions, are antithetical to King’s message and to the Gospel he dedicated his life to preaching and living out.
And yet too many (White) Christians are content to ignore that aspect of King’s message. Why? I’m sure some ignore King’s message against militarism out of ignorance. They do not know King spoke out against war and thought he only focused on ending segregation. For others, it might be fear. US militarism has infiltrated every aspect of our society. From the movies we watch, the video games we play. Speaking out against militarism can get one accused of not supporting veterans and service members. Additionally, congregations hold services that are meant to honor our veterans but often regurgitate the belief that violence, including wars waged by the United States are redemptive. For too many Christians, separating the Gospel from militarism, is impossible.
King, in his speech, also mentions the hypocrisy of expecting those who suffer under the strain of racism and government oppression to practice nonviolence while remaining silent on the ways in which the US government perpetrates violence:
“I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today—my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.”
Yet too many White Christians ignore the ways in which the US government has utilized violence against the marginalized and instead they focus on the alleged violence of Black Lives Matter protesters. They disregard the ways in which the US government abuses and murders Black and brown people domestically and abroad and instead emphasize isolated incidents of property destruction to claim that those speaking out against police brutality are violent. They make false equivalences between legitimate protests against police violence and the siege on the Capitol Building by white supremacists. And yet for King, speaking out against government violence is part of advocating for nonviolence. Too many White Christians refuse to speak out against state violence because they are unwilling to admit the ways in which they benefit directly from state violence against marginalized groups.
King’s emphasis on love and nonviolence cannot be separated from his outspoken advocacy against militarism and state violence. To separate those two, as too many institutions and individuals do, is to dishonor his legacy. King was a radical, prophetic witness hated by various government entities for challenging the racist, violent status quo. The King celebrated by the FBI, US military, CIA and various intelligence agencies and by many white individuals, on the third Monday of January is a sanitized, non-threatening, imaginary figure.
