Politicians and radical-right \\u201cChristians\\u201d attempt to venerate King with platitudes, but they vilify his life with policies that victimize the groups of people he championed.<\\/h3>\\n \"King<\\/a> Martin Luther King Jr. Birmingham, Ala. police mug shot, April 12,1963.<\\/em><\\/figcaption><\\/figure>\\n \ King demanded equality for black people. And brown people, and poor people.<\\/p>\\n \ True equality means white people are forced to give up one right \\u2014 the core, long-held, fundamental right to be racist.<\\/p>\\n \ White people in the U.S. benefit from a broken, racist system. They can recognize it, and help to dismantle the system that benefits them at the detriment of others, or they can deny their privilege, and be racists.<\\/p>\\n \ \\u201cIt\\u2019s all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps,\\u201d King said.<\\/p>\\n \ If you oppose the BLM movement today, then you would have opposed the BLM movement King led then.<\\/h3>\\n For inspirational quotes from King, visit:<\\/h4>\\n " Inspiration from Martin Luther King, Jr.<\\/a><\\/p><\\/blockquote>\\n "

{"id":8217,"date":"2024-01-14T20:11:40","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T01:11:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/?p=8217"},"modified":"2024-07-11T13:27:25","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T17:27:25","slug":"mlk-jr-was-the-original-black-lives-matter-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/faithonthefringe\/2024\/01\/mlk-jr-was-the-original-black-lives-matter-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"MLK Jr. Was the Original Black Lives Matter Leader"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

From the day he was born until the day he was murdered, 39 years later, Martin Luther King, Jr. was outside the mainstream. King was the original Black Lives Matter leader.<\/p>\n

Born to a comfortably middle class family, the color of his skin made him a second class American. He refused to accept the status quo of racism and became the famous face of the original Black Lives Movement.<\/p>\n

With his visage on United States postage stamps and a federal holiday commemorating his birth, King\u2019s radical messages have been whitewashed by the white majority. They\u2019ve created a civil rights icon they can feel comfortable with and project onto any issues they choose.<\/p>\n

Politicians and radical-right \u201cChristians\u201d attempt to venerate King with platitudes, but they vilify his life with policies that victimize the groups of people he championed.<\/h3>\n <\/a> Martin Luther King Jr. Birmingham, Ala. police mug shot, April 12,1963.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n \ King demanded equality for black people. And brown people, and poor people.<\/p>\n \ True equality means white people are forced to give up one right \u2014 the core, long-held, fundamental right to be racist.<\/p>\n \ White people in the U.S. benefit from a broken, racist system. They can recognize it, and help to dismantle the system that benefits them at the detriment of others, or they can deny their privilege, and be racists.<\/p>\n \ \u201cIt\u2019s all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps,\u201d King said.<\/p>\n \ If you oppose the BLM movement today, then you would have opposed the BLM movement King led then.<\/h3>\n For inspirational quotes from King, visit:<\/h4>\n " Inspiration from Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n "