Friday, May 1, 2015

Are MLK's words being misused in the Baltimore Riots?

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/dear-white-america-heres-what-you-should-know-about-mlk-using-him-shut-down-black?akid=13058.294211.WIqGoW&rd=1&src=newsletter1035677&t=7

Dear White America: Here's What You Should Know About MLK Before Using Him to Shut Down Black Uprising

If one persists in channeling Dr. King in these conversations about urban unrest, it should be done with great care.

 King elaborated on the relationship of urban disorder to the struggle for full human rights and dignity for black American in his "The Other America" speech where he stated that:
I think America must see that riots do not develop out of thin air. Certain conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots. But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation’s summers of riots are caused by our nation’s winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again. Social justice and progress are the absolute guarantors of riot prevention.

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