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The Hypocrisy of Asking “What Would Martin Luther King Jr Say?”
As we approach MLK Day, White people really need to grapple with what Martin Luther King Jr would say about the current state of this country.
A friend of mine used to always ask me what Martin Luther King Jr would do/say whenever we got into an argument over racial injustice. When the Ferguson protest was happening back in 2014 over the killing of Michael Brown, I brought up the injustice of the situation to which my friend posed the question about MLK. She would say, “I get what the people are trying to do but protesting isn’t the answer. What would Martin Luther King say to the destruction occurring from those protests?”
I was always taken aback by this question because it was often the only defense she had in her argument. There were no other prominent Black figures she could name. Malcolm X, John Lewis, Bayard Rustin, James Farmer, Whitney Young Jr, and countless others were never mentioned. All she could remember about MLK was him preaching for nonviolence amongst civil rights activists, law enforcement personnel, and Americans as if he stood for nothing more. To simplify this man’s story to fit her narrative of inaction not only does a major disservice to his life but continues to this day by many Americans.
