A Very Important Lesson From Dr. Martin Luther King
Today is MLK day. Just like many of our other holidays, the meaning has been watered down and is used for a reason to have sales at department stores. I am no great study of the Dr., but I saw something strangely familiar in his bio.
Dr. Martin Luther King believed in change through non-violent resistance. It's a pretty good plan, but it wasn't good enough for some people. I bring this up because I wanted to share a thought that Dr. King had that sounds strangely like something I see on a lot of Facebook feeds. Dr. King was concerned that the real problem wasn't the out and out racists, but the people who were "more devoted to "order" than to justice", people who would say:
"I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"
Man, that sounds a lot like a lot of people out there. People who say only racists bring up racism, and that we should "all just get along". and pretend that we don't have problems, people who say that we shouldn't protest, or speak up when injustice presents itself. It's not just used in discussions about race either, it's avoidance and it slows down change.
Dr. King has flawsI'm sure there will be people on the Facebook crosspost who will point this out to try to demean him or his lessons, then again, even Jesus got pissed in the temple with the money lenders. I'll just say that lessons are everywhere taught by both good people and bad and this man had a lot of wisdom to share that is still relevant today. Happy MLK day to the folks smart enough to learn those lessons.