It's time for a MLK Day Fark thread round up.
2005-01-17 02:12:26 PM
Jean-Puc_Licard

They should have one special day, or even a month, possibly even drag it out to a year, when all officialdom in America from the Whitehouse down says;"We are so sorry that this country rose to it's industrial might on the back of kidnapped slave labor.We are so sorry that when they wrote "all men are created equal" they lied and were too chickenshiat to include the blacks."Have a big official acknowledgement, a massive orgy of handwringings and apologies, rallies and fair days.... and then just get on with life. I think it needs to be done, to clear the air, remove the stain, exorcise the shame

I don't want people to just say sorry, I want people to make amends. That means no more benefiting from white privilege without a fight against it. That means no more whining- just working to solve the problems. If they have class problems, no more blaming them on blacks. They must solve their own problems instead of using us as scapegoats. Only then will amends be made, and they can wash the shame from their hands.


2005-01-17 01:52:48 PM
Firefly_Gal

No discussion of MLK is complete with out a mention to Baynard Rustin who organized the 1963 March on Washington and was openly gay (quite a feat for his time). No matter what charges the white supremacists lobbied at King for keeping a 'pervert' around, King never turned his back on the man. That is a hell of a kind of loyalty, since King was under constant pressure to ditch him even from his fellow ministers. Without Baynard Rustin to coordinate events like the 1963 march and make coalitions, we would not have the civil rights legislation today. And very few people outside the gay community even know who he is. Sad really.

Just for your info.

I wish they'd show a greater breadth of information on Martin Luther King Jr. Otherwise we are in danger of losing what made him great. Basically, I think it was courage. Whites didn't just scowl at civil rights-they were violent- people were killed, beaten up, even attacked by dogs(and the famous firehoses). Knowing their insanity then gives you context- I mean, that level of crazy can't be cured by one speech. That's why Malcolm X was all about any means necessary- because it was really fucking dangerous. I'm glad that they risked their lives so I can live safely.

That's why I get so mad. Blacks WORKED for what we have. We have worked our asses off even to get basic citizenship, but whites seem to think just because some similarly complected people stole some land and enslaved some people that america is for them only forever. Like everything people WORKED for should just be handed over because someone has a sense of entitlement.

It's like being a woman. You sometimes hear these crazy so called men's rights folks bitching about women's shelters being for women. Like what the fuck? If they want men's shelters so damn bad, they can do the footwork. If they don't have the money, they can hide the abused men in their fucking homes. Feminists fought hard to get shelters for women, hard for restraining order laws. They WORKED for what they had- not like these people expecting a fucking hand out.