|
Source: (consider it)
|
Thread: 45 years on the leagacy of Martin Luther King
|
Saul the Apostle
Shipmate
# 13808
|
Posted
As a Brit and as a white man, it's perhaps harder for me to understand the legacy of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
However, I have to say, he is one of my heroes. A man with feet of clay, he managed to soar to the forefront of the US Civil Rights movement (there were notable others of course).
What do Shipmates think was his main legacy, 45 years (4 April 1968) after a sniper's bullet killed him?
The British paper ''The Independent'' carried an article (probably one of many over these next few days).....
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/special-report-martin-luther-king-is-today-revered-in-death-as-he-was-feared -in-life-8555594.html
Saul the Apostle
--------------------
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."
Posts: 1772 | From: unsure | Registered: Jun 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Zach82
Shipmate
# 3208
|
Posted
Considering one in nine black American males are in prison, and our prisoners produce more of our manufactured goods than most care to admit for wages that Indonesian sweatshop managers would consider cruel, it would seem to me the battle wages on. Saint Martin, pray for us.
--------------------
Don't give up yet, no, don't ever quit/ There's always a chance of a critical hit. Ghost Mice
Posts: 9148 | From: Boston, MA | Registered: Aug 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
|
Posted
President Obama is the largest symbol of Dr. King's legacy. Colin Powell, Condeleeza Rice. There are strong symbols of the progress, a tremendous legacy. However, as Zach82 mentions; the road is not smooth, the journey not finished.
--------------------
I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Schroedinger's cat
Ship's cool cat
# 64
|
Posted
His main legacy? 45 years on, and people are still talking about him. That is both good and bad.
On the good side, he still stands out as one of the most significant people for equal rights - across the world, not just in the US. His legacy is that, in many countries, there is less racism, there are very few colour bars these days. The problem has not gone away, but he has made a huge difference. Yes there are others too - Nelson Mandela is another such - who have changed the consciousness of many people. We are still talking about him because he has impacted people worldwide.
On the downside, we are still talking about him because, as others have pointed out, the race issue is still not a dead one. He stands out as a pioneer of equal rights, but 45 years on from one of the most brilliant speeches of all time, his dream has still not been fulfilled. that is the tragedy.
The other part of the downside is that he still stands out as the USAs most significant black rights campaigner. That there has not been another one - or even a dozen others - in the last 45 years is an issue.
--------------------
Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.
Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
|
Posted
Hmmm, there might be a few others.
None as significant, no. Dr. King was a powerful speaker with massive charisma. He also was assassinated. Being a martyr is very powerful and tough to compete with. The movement was young when he was involved, major strides were being made. Progress now is in smaller steps, this makes gains seem less significant. Therefore anyone making them seems also less significant.
This is also why, ISTM, some* perceive Britain to be ahead of the US in this regard. The large steps were taken earlier. Plus the American Civil War and its racial aftermath intensified the larger problems.
*Interestingly, mostly white British.
[ 01. April 2013, 20:34: Message edited by: lilBuddha ]
--------------------
I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Campbellite
Ut unum sint
# 1202
|
Posted
I was living in Memphis in 1968. I cannot speak for anyone else, but I cannot overstate the effect his death had on me. I never met him in the flesh. But the effects of his words and actions have influenced my thinking and my attitudes for the last nearly half century.
I was a son of the South, a child of white privilege. I am just old enough to remember the way things were before the Civil Rights movement. My parents and grandparents were good, church-going folk, but they were children of their time, with all the attitudes common to their day. We were taught that being white made us specially blessed, and that others were meant for subservience and poverty.
Dr. King challenged all of those assumptions. His sermons and letters and interpretations of the scriptures struck me as imminently fair, sensible and true. He challenged me to see the world as Jesus did. That all people are beloved children of God. I was shamed by the attitudes and thinking I had grown up with.
Your mileage may vary, but I hope not.
--------------------
I upped mine. Up yours.
Suffering for Jesus since 1966.
WTFWED?
Posts: 12001 | From: between keyboard and chair | Registered: Aug 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Saul the Apostle
Shipmate
# 13808
|
Posted
Cambellite,
I was struck by the American author Philip Yancy and his description of how he was brought up in the American Southern States.
The church he went to was strongly racist and King was referred to as ''Martin Luther Coon''. Over time Yancy realised that his Christian faith and racist assumptions did not mix. I was impressed with his honesty and although i was raised in Liverpool in the 1970s, we didn't have the laws that seperated blacks and whites, but there was much heartless racism and it was ver common for black people to be shouted and sworn at harshly.
What impressed me about King was the strong and clear non violent principle and also that he had feet of clay. He was no wholly innocent saint, but he held on to that dream and vision of the repeal if unjust laws and further on (will this ever happen?) the fences and boundaries in our hearts.
Finally of course was his amazing rhetoric and black church poetic delivery; what heights we soar to when we listen to him. Then there was his strong opposition to an unjust foreign war, Vietnam, how prophetic and sharp that was.
I could go on ![[Biased]](wink.gif)
Saul the Apostle
[ 02. April 2013, 06:54: Message edited by: Saul the Apostle ]
--------------------
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."
Posts: 1772 | From: unsure | Registered: Jun 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
sabine
Shipmate
# 3861
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Saul the Apostle:
What impressed me about King was the strong and clear non violent principle. . .
Something we seem to have lost sight of in this age of public life with little civility.
MLK took an anti-war stance toward the end, and I wonder how that would have been played out if he hadn't been assassinated.
quote:
. . .and also that he had feet of clay. He was no wholly innocent saint, but he held on to that dream and vision of the repeal if unjust laws and further on (will this ever happen?) the fences and boundaries in our hearts.
Finally of course was his amazing rhetoric and black church poetic delivery; what heights we soar to when we listen to him. Then there was his strong opposition to an unjust foreign war, Vietnam, how prophetic and sharp that was.
Well said.
Many people think of MLK as relating to just Americans or to our history, but I think he is a role model for all.
sabine
--------------------
"Hunger looks like the man that hunger is killing." Eduardo Galeano
Posts: 5887 | From: the US Heartland | Registered: Dec 2002
| IP: Logged
|
|
Saul the Apostle
Shipmate
# 13808
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by leo:
Incidentally, Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority strove against Martin Luther King, claiming that racial integration was ‘the work of the devil that would destroy our race eventually.’
Leo,
I didn't know that.
I am surprised as I didn't realise Jerry Falwell would say something like that?
Assuming he did say that, it was a wholly repellent thing to say.
He said ''our race'' (meaning the US race presumably?), but this is a ''hodge podge''(fairly mixed) race anyway?
Or did he really mean the ''white race'' versus ''black race''?
Saul the Apostle
[ 02. April 2013, 15:26: Message edited by: Saul the Apostle ]
--------------------
"I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma; but perhaps there is a key. That key is Russian national interest."
Posts: 1772 | From: unsure | Registered: Jun 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by sabine:
quote:
Originally posted by Saul the Apostle:
What impressed me about King was the strong and clear non violent principle. . .
Something we seem to have lost sight of in this age of public life with little civility.
MLK took an anti-war stance toward the end, and I wonder how that would have been played out if he hadn't been assassinated.
At the time he died, Martin Luther King, Jr. was the most hated and reviled man in America. The level of invective directed at him and his followers really has no present-day parallel, except perhaps people's feelings about al Qæda in late 2001 and early 2002. You should bear that in mind when making claims that this is an "age of public life with little civility".
--------------------
Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
Crœsos
Shipmate
# 238
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by Saul the Apostle:
quote:
Originally posted by leo:
Incidentally, Jerry Falwell, founder of the Moral Majority strove against Martin Luther King, claiming that racial integration was ‘the work of the devil that would destroy our race eventually.’
Leo,
I didn't know that.
I am surprised as I didn't realise Jerry Falwell would say something like that?
Assuming he did say that, it was a wholly repellent thing to say; as ''our race'' (meaning the US race presumably) is a ''hodge podge''(fairly mixed) race anyway?
Or did he really mean the ''white race'' versus ''black race''?
Saul the Apostle
I'm fairly confident that the man who established a private, whites only school to evade Brown v. Board really meant "the white race".
Another Fallwell gem:
quote:
If Chief Justice Warren and his associates had known God’s word and had desired to do the Lord’s will, I am quite confident that the 1954 [Brown v. Board] decision would never have been made. The facilities should be separate. When God has drawn the line of distinction, we should not attempt to cross that line.
--------------------
Humani nil a me alienum puto
Posts: 10706 | From: Sardis, Lydia | Registered: May 2001
| IP: Logged
|
|
kankucho
Shipmate
# 14318
|
Posted
There's some interesting reading to be had at MLK's alma mater, Moorhouse College in Atlanta, GA.
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of meeting the college's Dean, Dr Lawrence Carter, when he was over to lecture in London and Oxford. Dr Carter self-identifies as King's disciple and, concerned about a perceived decline in his mentor's influence, has founded the Gandhi, King, Ikeda, Hassan Institute for Ethics and Reconciliation. The Institute is concerned more with King's mission to build bridges between communities than with the specific advancement of black people for which he has tended to be lionised.
[ 02. April 2013, 15:48: Message edited by: kankucho ]
--------------------
"We are a way for the cosmos to know itself" – Dr. Carl Sagan
Kankucho Bird Blues
Posts: 1262 | From: Kuon-ganjo, E17 | Registered: Nov 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
Net Spinster
Shipmate
# 16058
|
Posted
quote:
Originally posted by kankucho:
There's some interesting reading to be had at MLK's alma mater, Moorhouse College in Atlanta, GA.
Actually Morehouse College, I had the pleasure of hearing the past president, Robert Franklin, speak a few weeks ago at Stanford University on Martin Luther King and Abraham Lincoln and "Emancipating People" (Stanford also is a major center of research on the King papers with the project about 100 yards from where I work). Martin Luther King's influence is still felt though one must also remember others like Bayard Rustin and Philip Randolph.
--------------------
spinner of webs
Posts: 1093 | From: San Francisco Bay area | Registered: Dec 2010
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
lilBuddha
Shipmate
# 14333
|
Posted
If one looks at everything, Mr. Meridith is wrong. However, he is not far wrong if one looks at some regions and factors. Racism, and its attendant problems, are less obvious, but still there. In areas like Mississippi and Detroit, it is fairly bad. In New York and Los Angeles, it is more like London. It is more subtle, easier to ignore if you should so wish. Well, if you are white, at least.
--------------------
I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou
Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
Printer-friendly view
