What Would Martin Luther King Say?

"The poor in our countries have been shut out of our minds and driven from the mainstream of our societies, because we have allowed them to become invisible."


Eric Garner -- New York
Michael Brown, Jr. -- Ferguson, Missouri
Tamir Rice, 12 years old -- Cleveland
Walter Scott -- North Charleston, South Carolina
Freddie Gray -- Baltimore

[January 15 is Martin Luther King's actual birthday, which we celebrate as a Federal holiday this year on Monday, January 18, 2016.]

Each year, at this time, I reflect on King's legacy and enduring message. Often, I wonder what he would think today, about how far we have come in race relations in America.

Above is a partial list of the unarmed black males who have been killed by police between July 2014, and April 19, 2015.  Sure, there must be plenty of people who get into altercations with police. But there is a whole generation of black males largely "missing" from American society -- 1.5 million according to a study by The New York Times in April 20, 2015. These black males are in jail. Or, they are dead.

You cannot tell me that if there were 1.5 million white men missing in America, that there would not be an uproar!

I remember decades ago, when I was in graduate school in the American South. One evening, I was driving to my graduate student apartment, when I saw one lone car pulled over on a country road. Surrounding the vehicle were about 6 police cars, in a fanned out "star pattern".  Thinking at first that  that it was some kind of road block, I slowed down. My companion in the car said, "No doubt, the person they stopped is black." I said, "Isn't that excessive?" My companion said, "You are in the Deep South."

I did not want to believe that this was routine.  . .  until a female friend and classmate of mine was stopped by police, while driving home one night. She was the designated driver, who had not touched a drop of alcohol, who was driving the speed limit and obeying all traffic signs. But she is black, and she was driving in a car with about four other black women.

When the officer asked for her driver's license, he pointed out that her out-of-state license had expired two weeks ago. She was going to return home over Christmas break to renew it. Most of us would have gotten a mere warning. Maybe a ticket.

This young lady was arrested, handcuffed, had her mug shot taken, and she was booked at the precinct.

So, sadly I am not at all surprised at the outcomes of these recent cases. This kind of thing was happening decades ago and it is STILL happening!

I hate that these injustices have ended in violence. When violence is the result, we all lose. Martin Luther King said, "Violence is impractical, because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all." Look at all the terrorism in the world today. We end up just destroying each other. The violence has become so shocking and revolting, do we even know what we are fighting about any longer?

King also said, "A riot is the language of the unheard."

Today, some of those voices are being heard. But, in a meeting with the Black Lives Matter organization in August 2015, Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton said, "I don't believe you change hearts, I believe you change laws, you change allocation of resources." Many roundly criticized her for this statement. I have to say that I, too,  was very disheartened to hear this.

In contrast, Martin Luther King said, "You can't legislate morality; you have to change hearts first." I would hate to see us all accepting a world where we give up on changing hearts.

In the climate of today, sadly, I see fewer and fewer chances to change hearts. The Millenial Generation has been taught to be so delicate around issues of race, that even mentioning another person's color or ethnicity has become taboo. We pretend that we are all the same, rather than confronting and accepting our differences.

Progress is NOT measured in the Silence. Martin Luther King said,  "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the Silence of our friends."

When we pretend that we are all the same, we drift backwards. It is only in acknowledging our differences and accepting -- even loving each other -- anyway, that we can create a more just society. When we are not even talking to each other, we are willfully ignorant.

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscious stupidity."  -- Martin Luther King.

[Related  Postings: "Baltimore", May 13, 2015; "Martin Luther King's Dream", January 15, 2014; "Race in America", August 1, 2013; " The Prophet: Martin Luther King", January 15, 2015; "The Need For Martin Luther King", Jan. 16, 2013; "Remembering Martin Luther King", Jan. 16, 2012; "Martin Luther King", Jan. 17, 2011.]

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