Non-violence can make people feel guilty about things they are guilty about.
But it can't make people feel guilty about things they aren't guilty about.
MLK slowly transitioned to condoning or at least excusing violence after Civil Rights passed. White Guilt alone wasn't going to enact radical affirmative action or socialism, which is why king was about by the end of his life.
Thanks for your comment. I can think of a number of minds that will never be changed no matter the method used. Nonviolent resistance seems to be the best option though.
“MLK slowly transitioned to condoning or at least excusing violence after Civil Rights passed.” Interesting. Do you have any specific examples in mind? I haven’t read past 1960.
In his book Stride Toward Freedom, published in 1958, he espouses various socialist-inclined goals, but I haven’t read his later work. He’s largely against Marxism though.
MLK reflected the larger culture shift that took place in the 1960s.
When civil rights didn’t result in black equality he started calling for more radical methods.
Liberalism, if it gets the result I want. Otherwise fuck liberalism.
Non-violence could make people want to give blacks political equality, but it didn’t make them support affirmative action or infinite welfare.
When blacks turned to mass rioting in the late 60s king basically said “well pay up or this is what you get”. That’s why he had net negative popularity in the north and the south at the time of his death. His legacy latter got ret conned so that it was frozen in time in 1964, and everyone forgets he was on the path to being Al Sharpton before he got assassinated.
“MLK reflected the larger culture shift that took place in the 1960s.
When civil rights didn’t result in black equality he started calling for more radical methods.” I haven’t read King past 1960, but this seems plausible. Here’s an excerpt from his book Stride Toward Freedom that attributes black behavior and black personal standards to segregation.
“The constructive program ahead must include a vigorous attempt to improve the Negro's personal standards. It must be reiterated that the standards of the Negro as a group lag behind not because of an inherent inferiority, but because of the fact that segregation does exist. The ‘behavior deviants’ within the Negro community stem from the economic deprivation, emotional frustration, and social isolation which are the inevitable concomitants of segregation. When the white man argues that segregation should continue because of the Negro's lagging standards, he fails to see that the standards lag because of segregation.”
Is segregation the biggest factor? I’m open to the idea, but this is an area that I haven’t studied, so I should be careful.
“Liberalism, if it gets the result I want. Otherwise fuck liberalism.” This doesn’t sound like King. :) I’ll keep an eye open for this sentiment.
“Non-violence could make people want to give blacks political equality, but it didn’t make them support affirmative action or infinite welfare.” It probably did cause people to support affirmative action and Great Society initiatives. I’m looking at the Wikipedia site for affirmative action and see the 1961 and 1965 initiatives signed by JFK and Nixon respectively.
“When blacks turned to mass rioting in the late 60s king basically said “well pay up or this is what you get”. That’s why he had net negative popularity in the north and the south at the time of his death. His legacy latter got ret conned so that it was frozen in time in 1964, and everyone forgets he was on the path to being Al Sharpton before he got assassinated.” I’m skeptical of this claim, but it sounds like you lived through it? I was born in 1976. I’ll keep reading.
I appreciate your perspective. Reading recommendations?
I would also consult his last work, Where Do We Go From Here? to contrast with his earlier personality.
Basically, Kling wanted a bunch of welfare for blacks and affirmative action, took a Kendi-esque view of disparate outcomes, and blamed white moderates for getting freaked out when blacks rioted and looted because its just the voice of the oppressed screaming out.
Non-violence can make people feel guilty about things they are guilty about.
But it can't make people feel guilty about things they aren't guilty about.
MLK slowly transitioned to condoning or at least excusing violence after Civil Rights passed. White Guilt alone wasn't going to enact radical affirmative action or socialism, which is why king was about by the end of his life.
Thanks for your comment. I can think of a number of minds that will never be changed no matter the method used. Nonviolent resistance seems to be the best option though.
“MLK slowly transitioned to condoning or at least excusing violence after Civil Rights passed.” Interesting. Do you have any specific examples in mind? I haven’t read past 1960.
In his book Stride Toward Freedom, published in 1958, he espouses various socialist-inclined goals, but I haven’t read his later work. He’s largely against Marxism though.
MLK reflected the larger culture shift that took place in the 1960s.
When civil rights didn’t result in black equality he started calling for more radical methods.
Liberalism, if it gets the result I want. Otherwise fuck liberalism.
Non-violence could make people want to give blacks political equality, but it didn’t make them support affirmative action or infinite welfare.
When blacks turned to mass rioting in the late 60s king basically said “well pay up or this is what you get”. That’s why he had net negative popularity in the north and the south at the time of his death. His legacy latter got ret conned so that it was frozen in time in 1964, and everyone forgets he was on the path to being Al Sharpton before he got assassinated.
“MLK reflected the larger culture shift that took place in the 1960s.
When civil rights didn’t result in black equality he started calling for more radical methods.” I haven’t read King past 1960, but this seems plausible. Here’s an excerpt from his book Stride Toward Freedom that attributes black behavior and black personal standards to segregation.
“The constructive program ahead must include a vigorous attempt to improve the Negro's personal standards. It must be reiterated that the standards of the Negro as a group lag behind not because of an inherent inferiority, but because of the fact that segregation does exist. The ‘behavior deviants’ within the Negro community stem from the economic deprivation, emotional frustration, and social isolation which are the inevitable concomitants of segregation. When the white man argues that segregation should continue because of the Negro's lagging standards, he fails to see that the standards lag because of segregation.”
Is segregation the biggest factor? I’m open to the idea, but this is an area that I haven’t studied, so I should be careful.
“Liberalism, if it gets the result I want. Otherwise fuck liberalism.” This doesn’t sound like King. :) I’ll keep an eye open for this sentiment.
“Non-violence could make people want to give blacks political equality, but it didn’t make them support affirmative action or infinite welfare.” It probably did cause people to support affirmative action and Great Society initiatives. I’m looking at the Wikipedia site for affirmative action and see the 1961 and 1965 initiatives signed by JFK and Nixon respectively.
“When blacks turned to mass rioting in the late 60s king basically said “well pay up or this is what you get”. That’s why he had net negative popularity in the north and the south at the time of his death. His legacy latter got ret conned so that it was frozen in time in 1964, and everyone forgets he was on the path to being Al Sharpton before he got assassinated.” I’m skeptical of this claim, but it sounds like you lived through it? I was born in 1976. I’ll keep reading.
I appreciate your perspective. Reading recommendations?
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/08/10/how-public-attitudes-toward-martin-luther-king-jr-have-changed-since-the-1960s/
https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/if-martin-luther-king-were-alive-today-his-radicalism-wouldnt-be-celebrated/
https://jacobin.com/2020/09/martin-luther-king-riots-looting-biden#:~:text=Let%27s%20start%20with%20the%20quote,America%20has%20failed%20to%20hear%3F
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/dr-martin-luther-kings-economics-through-jobs-freedom/
I would also consult his last work, Where Do We Go From Here? to contrast with his earlier personality.
Basically, Kling wanted a bunch of welfare for blacks and affirmative action, took a Kendi-esque view of disparate outcomes, and blamed white moderates for getting freaked out when blacks rioted and looted because its just the voice of the oppressed screaming out.
I’ll take a look. Thank you.