DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
CONSERVATIVES TWIST DR. KING’S
WORDS TO PUSH THEIR AGENDA
By Cash Michaels
An analysis
As President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamila Harris traverse the country these days trying to reenergize their once considerable Black voter support, conservative Republicans, once again, are doing all they can to counter those efforts by attempting to tell African-Americans what civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “really stood for.”
“Today is the day when Republicans quote MLK and pretend he would be all for voter ID laws,” quipped “Machine Pun Kelly” Scaletta on “X,” formerly known as Twitter, on King Day, January 2023, noting how Republicans religiously quote from Dr. King’s 1963 speech “…I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Observers like Scaletta then note how those same Republican conservatives would brazenly work to curtail voting rights for African-Americans, the very issue Dr. King gave his life for.
Without question there are voices who do not buy into Dr. King’s dream of human diversity, equity and inclusion. Instead, these politically conservative voices insist that Dr. King was a strong proponent of what they represent, namely the destruction of all things that represent diversity, equity and inclusion.
These conservatives misinterpret Dr. King’s message of brotherhood as one of “colorblindness” - the deliberate ignorance of a person’s ethnicity, gender or sexual preference.
According to Andre Archie, a Black conservative author and professor at Colorado State University, the “cult” of diversity, equity and inclusion “…has harmed society and is contrary to the vision of America’s greatest civil rights leaders…”
But the pure definition of “blind” or “blindness” means you cannot see, do not see, or refuse to see.
What Dr. King dreamed of was an America that would one day be a nation that not only saw racial, gender and sexual preference differences, but respected them, allowing “..little white girls and little Black boys to hold hands as sisters and brothers.”
Most of Dr. King’s followers would agree that you cannot respect something or someone you cannot see. Nor can you build meaningful relationships between human beings of different backgrounds if you refuse to respect them for who or what they are.
“[Dr. King’s] “I Have a Dream” speech proscribes a powerful hope for righting injustices facing children today: creating a world where people are not color blind, but color kind.” wrote author Colin Seale in his January, 2020 Forbes Magazine article, ‘MLK’s “I Have a Dream” Speech and Rejecting Colorblindness for Today’s Children.”
Seale continued, “ Dr. King’s line about not judging his children “by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” is too often shamefully applied to argue against affirmative action or any race-based remedy to historical injustice. But the “I Have a Dream” speech itself contradicts this in his bold call for fighting the fight “until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Moreover, his public views before and after his speech included …social reforms for African Americans similar to the G.I. Bill, and a call for “massive” reparations that were bold, but “less expensive than any computation based on two centuries of unpaid wages and accumulated interest."
Seale notes that author Ibram X. Kendi says that “the opposite of racist isn’t “not racist.” It is anti-racist.”
By Dr. King’s philosophy, fighting racism with laws, common purpose and equal justice are the keys to building a just society. But to hear conservatives tell it, there is no racism to fight, unless they define it, and enlist the aid of Black conservatives to address it.
So when it comes to police brutality, educational inequity, poor health care and housing, and poverty, “righteous” Americans should be not just be colorblind, but be blind to those things, conservative Republicans say.
And they prefer that we all be blind to the color of human beings affected too.
That certainly wasn’t was Dr. King ever said or meant.
“I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men,” King said in 1964 upon accepting his Nobel Peace Prize.
“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits.”
“This MLK Day,” writes Daily Beast columnist Ernest Owens, “… Republicans could start putting some respect on Dr. King’s name by respecting his ideas. Failing that, they should keep his name out of their mouths.”
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LT. GOV. MARK ROBINSON
WHAT DOES ROBINSON KNOW
ABOUT ALLEGED ILLEGAL
CONTRIBUTIONS TO HIS 2020
CAMPAIGN?
By Cash Michaels
Contributing writer
In an open letter by the former executive director of the progressive advocacy group Democracy North Carolina, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, currently the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 gubernatorial race, is being asked about “…a long-running government investigation into alleged crimes committed..." during his 2020 campaign.
That open letter to Robinson is from Bob Hall, who is also a veteran government and campaign watchdog.
In an article published January 8th in the progressive NC Newsline, Hall says the state investigation into Robinson's 2020 campaign is secret by state law, but that it was initiated by a complaint Hall filed with the NC Board of Elections in 2021, and to the best of his knowledge, the probe is still open and ongoing.
In the open letter to Robinson, Hall writes, “A year from now, you could be sworn in as the new Governor of North Carolina. A week later, you could be charged with criminal violations from an ongoing investigation into more than $500,000 of apparent illegal activity related to your 2020 campaign. Illegal cash donations; contributions in illegal amounts and from illegal donors; illegal cash withdrawals; illegal credit card charges and illegal expenses; illegal disclosure of financial transactions.”
Hall’s letter continued, “The investigation of your campaign has continued for three years, beginning with my complaint to the State Board of Elections in February 2021. Back then, your campaign consultant dismissed the problems as “clerical errors” and said “new staff” would work with the State Board of Elections to “fix any and all mistakes” and submit amended reports. You told a reporter any problems would be handled “quick, fast and in a hurry.”
"But there are no amended reports and the investigation continues," Hll's open letter continues." "If your case wasn’t about such substantial wrongdoing or if you were fully cooperating with authorities, the investigation likely would have ended by now. What’s going on? What are you telling investigators? Is the Wake County District Attorney or FBI involved? The public shouldn’t be kept in the dark.”
Rather than be surprised, voters need to hear from you now – before the primary, not after the November election. For accountability and transparency, please give people a truthful explanation. In the past, when reporters asked about a mysterious $2,400 cash withdrawal from your campaign in 2020, they received two different answers – it was either a typo for a $20 withdrawal or a cash refund for an illegal $2,400 contribution from a business. Please, no more excuses or fake news."
Hall went on in his open letter to outline ten different allegations of illegal campaign transactions in Robinson’s 2020 campaign for lt. governor.
Hall told Robinson in his open letter that he would be attending the January 9th Council of State meeting where he hoped “…we can talk about these matters after the meeting."
This article was completed prior to that meeting, but in the past, Robinson has told WRAL-TV News that he's bringing in someone new "...to keep his campaign books and that the issues will be handled "quick, fast and in a hurry."
There’s been no public word from Robinson about these matters since then.
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