A Reminder: Martin Luther King Jr. Didn’t Die Protecting White Feelings

a cartoonish white person with short hair in a suit with the words " ' Martin Luther King, Jr. said to stop being mean to me.' - White Guys"

Once upon a time, back when oppressed people didn’t have the full equality that they do now, there was one man who was a very nice man and wanted everyone to be nice and happy together, unlike another mean man who scared the oppressors and didn’t be nice to them.

No, I’m not talking about Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X — I’m talking about Xavier and Magneto. And as far as such a view of the struggle for rights goes, it is rather simplistic and falsely dichotomous even for the comic book characters, let alone a realistic view of the real-life activists. This is especially true for the man depicted as the “nice” one, whose legacy is all too often misused as a silencing tactic vis-à-vis oppressive enforcement of “civility.”

It takes an incredible short perspective on history to forget that today’s heroes, seen as compassionate and reasonable and peaceful, are often yesterday’s shrill, overreaching radicals. Martin Luther King Jr. was no exception.

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A Reminder: Martin Luther King Jr. Didn’t Die Protecting White Feelings
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