In probably all states of the Union, one Monday in mid January is set aside to publicly celebrate the life and ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, jnr. This public holiday is meant to coincide with the birthday of the man who was christened Michael Luther King, and who later changed his first name to Martin. He was born on January 15th, 1929. He died on April 4th, 1968. He never saw his 40th birthday.
He sacrificed his life in a fight for freedom and equality for all humans (and not just for blacks only); by giving some of the most inspiring speeches ever, by any human anywhere. Before being assassinated, he had sacrificed time, money, brainpower, energy and anything else you could think about, in order to realize his dreams of justice and equality for all.
He was a pacifist by nature, and he emulated Mahatma Gandhi’s tactics of peaceful civil disobedience as an instrument for economic, social and political change; and in so doing he transformed American society. And just like Gandhi- who as an East Indian transformed the society of India- MLK’s actions had a similar impact on the world at large. These were two beautiful men; imperfect, but beautiful human beings. Their contributions to humanity have made them into icons. Academics study their movements for change in all areas of the social sciences, and in many universities all over the world.
Whenever MLK day comes around, many public events are staged. Politicians and scholars usually show up at these events to make big speeches. That’s where the hypocrisy becomes visible if you look behind the curtains. Let me give you a few examples here and in upcoming columns.
MLK had a sentence that he may have coined which has been repeated many times over the years, and which is now a mantra for equality in the USA: “being judged by the content of our character and not by the color of our skin”. It is an ideal that transcends race, ethnicity, nationality or religion. I think I am being fair in saying that most of us living in this country share this ideal.
And yet, just two years ago, in a congressional race in Brooklyn (11thCD), many black politicians (elected officials included) were lining up, in order to condemn a white man, for entering the race against four potential black candidates; they very rather vocal in their condemnation, as if he had no right to run. In fact some of the pols and activists openly said that he didn’t have a right to run in said district: given the demographics. The white candidate was NYC council member David Yassky. The district’s demographics showed over a quarter of the residents being white; with about 60% being black.
I am sure that many of the said black pols who were quick to condemn David Yassky, were out there yesterday making all sorts of fancy speeches about equality and the like. I am sure that many of them attended church services, memorial services and ceremonial/celebratory programs for MLK; making all types of flowery statements alluding to the man’s courage and greatness. I call that hypocrisy; what do you call it?
When I stood up to publicly affirm Yassky’s right to run: I was castigated, condemned and ostracized. It’s during times like those that you see the true colors of many people; I was amazed and appalled at the rancor that came my way. If this wasn’t one of the worse cases of judging someone by the color of their skin, then show me another. On MLK’s birthday, hypocrites abound; but do note that they exist in all shades and hues of the color scheme.
More to come; so stay tuned-in folks.