The 40th Anniversary of the Killing of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
Today, as many will note, is the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Most of those who will mark this date in some way were not yet born when it occurred (I was 10, old enough to remember it) and yet it affects them in various ways as well.
Writers more gifted and I will stop today to reflect on the significance of this day in a nation's troubled history. But especially for those many readers born long after April 4, 1968, I want to offer two things that can help bring that day four decades ago into being today, one to watch and one to read.
The offering to watch is the video clip above. On that April night Senator Robert F. Kennedy was campaigning in the Indiana primary and announced the news to a crowd that was mostly black. His speech that evening, a tribute to Dr. King, is one of the most moving pieces of spontaneous oratory in the nation's history and many young people have never seen it.
The offering to read is a piece of writing from Dr. King, my favorite of his writings, Letter from the Birmingham Jail. He wrote this wrote 45 years ago this month – from the Birmingham Alabama jail.
Thank you all.
posted by The Democracy Center at 2:34 PM
The Democracy Center, based in Cochabamba Bolivia and San Francisco California, works globally to advance human rights through a combination of investigation and reporting, training citizens in the art of public advocacy, and organizing international citizen campaigns. If you like the Blog, consider becoming a subscriber to The Democracy Center's free e-newsletter by sending us an email at 
24 Comments:
40 Years later little has changed. If MLK would be talking today they would call him a terrorist and put him in jail or make him dissapear.
Really? Little has changed? 2 black secretaries of state? A black CEO of Merrill Lynch? AMEX? Secretary of Education? Vice-Chair of the Fed? Black astronauts? Senators and Congressmen? I could go on ad infinitum, ad nauseam, but you're right anon, little has changed.
galloglass, I would argue that you're right, something has changed: most instances of racism today are covert, rather than overt. And about how many successful White businesspeople/politicians are there for each of the successful Black men and women on your list?
That reminds me of the saying about conspiracies that are so secret, the absence of evidence proves them. Racism exists in the US, I agree. To what extent does that explain disparities? I'd say liberal social policies espoused by black leaders and politicians has helped create a permanent underclass, not racism. But blacks are 12% of the US population. Numerically speaking they'll never equal European descended Americans. Should there be 50-50 representation in everything? The NBA? What about Asian-Americans? As Dennis Miller said "The biggest conspiracy has always been the fact that there is no conspiracy. Nobody's out to get you. Nobody gives a shit whether you live or die. There, you feel better now?"
40 years ago, Stokely Carmichael burnt down my city.
There are still parts of the city that haven't completely recovered.
The United States is the richest and most powerful country on the planet. Yet despite this, the poison of racism remains an integral part of America. Blacks, together with the other racial minorities, remain the most exploited section of society, mostly employed in the lowest-paid and menial jobs. Racism remains an everyday part of their desperate existence. Today, despite all the "reforms" of the last forty years, blacks continue to suffer from lynching and violence at the hands of the state, racist organizations and individuals, as well as being forced to live under conditions of mass poverty and oppression. The recent gruesome murder of a black man in Texas who was dragged to death behind a truck is a vivid reminder of American racism. Black youth are faced with daily harassment and intimidation by the police. Unemployment amongst blacks is twice the rate for whites. America's child-poverty rate is four times higher than Western Europe, and the rate of incarceration for black men is four times higher than in the days of apartheid South Africa.
The number of black Americans in poverty is 10.1 million while the number of poor Hispanics was 9.3 million. For children, the situation is horrific. Black infant mortality is twice that of whites. 45% of black children live below the poverty line compared with 16% of white children. These are the kind of figures you would expect in a third world country.
In the US, blacks earn only 58% of whites' earnings. In 1989, a black worker was likely to earn 10.9% less than a white in a similar job, but by 2006 that differential had grown to 26.4 This 'black-white earnings gap' jumped up 50 percent from 1989 to 1999
Education-wise, the greatest increase in black-white earnings gap was among college graduates, with minimal 2.5 percent differential in 1979 exploding to 15.5 percent in 1999." While the black middle class has grown, affirmative action and quotas have not prevented this deterioration for the mass of blacks.
At the same time, the class divide has never been greater. The rich got richer, while the position of the majority has deteriorated. Corporate America has made a bonanza. Bill Gates has an income equal to the combined income of 115 million Americans.
The poison of racism is deliberately fostered by the ruling class as a means of keeping the working class divided, and diverting attention away from the real problems of American capitalism. This policy of "divide and rule" on racial, national or religious lines, has been a common feature of the ruling class internationally. Racism and ethnic differences allow the power structure to exploit the masses of workers in the USA, because that's the key by which they maintain their control. To divide the people and conquer them is the objective of the power structure.
While the position of the majority of blacks has grown worse, a substantial section of the black middle class has prospered. They have done well out of affirmative action. They have managed to further their careers and carve out a niche for themselves.
Blacks face new horrors in the ghettos: racism, police brutality, poverty, unemployment and slum conditions. The problems of black workers are the problems of the working class as a whole, only in a far more acute form. The ruling class made a series of concessions which served to undermine the movement. These became known as affirmative action policies, which set quotas for the number of blacks to be employed in jobs. This system, in reality, has helped only a small minority of blacks, mainly from the middle class. The conditions of the mass of black people have deteriorated, as the above figures testify.
In practice, affirmative action has not worked. During this period, real wages and living standards have declined and the jobs market has shrunk. The position of black workers is no better than before - in fact, it is worse. The general crisis of American capitalism bears down heavily on the blacks and other racial minorities.
Condoleza, a black token of the big oil who runs the government. The black Jamaican General Powell an uncle Tom who lied for them. Is that an example of Martin Luther King dream?
Best of Frank_IBC
"Dammit, Jim! I'm a doctor, not an emo kid! Now someone get this damned wig off of me!"
Cat's out of the bag. Frank_IBC is from Alabamba. This kind of says it all!!
Anonymous 7:08 p.m.
Should you decide to visit my hometown of Washington DC, I will show you the vacant lots on 14th St NW, 7th St NW, and H St NE which still exist 4 decades after the riots of April 1968.
a substantial section of the black middle class has prospered. They have done well out of affirmative action...Condoleza, a black token of the big oil who runs the government. The black Jamaican General Powell an uncle Tom who lied for them.
So who's the real "racist" here?
Condi, Colin, tiger, Clarence are the example of sellout, oreo cookies, who are for their own benefit. they forget where they came from just like the people in sucre,who are as dark as my behind but are so bling and selfish that forget that slavery, apartheid, pongos, etc are not in the law but are very much practiced daily.
Besides who said that Condi or Colin Powel were the first ones to sellout? The house nigros and uncle Toms started all. No dignity, no pride, tokens of the mssters.
So what's your take on Obama, anonymous 7:34 p.m.? Just curious...
Tiger Woods is 25% Thai, 25% African American, 25% Chinese, 12.5% Native (North) American, and 12.5% Dutch.
Which race are you accusing him of selling out?
Anonymous... 7:08 PM
Very good point, Frank. And don't forget that Obama is as much white as black. Why do people stress one half and not the other. Does that make them closet racists?
And being from Alabamba doesn't make you ALL that bad.
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And don't forget that Obama is as much white as black.
I am not denying any part of Obama's ancestry, anonymous 9:39 p.m. (though it's not clear if Obama himself feels the same way). I was just curious to hear anonymous 7:34's opinion of him.
Anonymous said... 10:03 PM
So you couldn't leave your runescape to yourself. What a moron. Do you know that only 13 year olds do that stuff?
Get a life, play chess.
Very clever people have commented before me and my humble opinion is that all the effort is put into either showing there have been changes or not, there is racism or not. But the real question should be, what are we doing to change the perception each of has have? The whites would say: a lot has changed while the blacks would say: little has changed. But what are you doing to change it?
Are whites been thought to truly and honestly respect equally any human been, been black, hispanic, asian or european and not only as part of fear to be blamed racist?
Are blacks trying to get rid of the resentment they've been carrying for centuries? Are they trying to improve their standards? Do they look for better education or they surrender under the fact that they are black? Do they look for better medical services or they just accept that what they have because thats what they have been given?
My point here is, instead of blaming each side for the way things are, we should analyze each of use to find out if the change has happened on ourselves first, they you will notice the change outside.
I come from a society where there are similar problems and what I perceive is that there is no willing to change the way every thing has been going and therefore nothing changes, what the "affected" party wishes is that everything should be solved by someone else so I can have what any other citizen has.
God save us from regulations enforcing certain levels of participation of minorities in government or private companies. A position should be earned by your capacity, skills and commitment and not because your sex, race or political inclinations.
That is only my humble opinion.
Gotta thank the King dude for giving us a holiday.
And for all that apocalyptic talk about how minorities are so "exploited" in the U.S., nobody mentioned why, despite having less population and political representation than Latinos and blacks, Asian-Americans have the highest standard of living and graduation rates than all other "races" in the U.S. Instead of playing the victim card, it would be better to find out why they are so successful and emulate them.
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To Ano 8:30
Your sarcasm, and lack of respect for MLK, Jr., betray you stupidity and racism.
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To Anon 1:13 PM
Calling me "ano", stupid, and racist?
Yawn.
Articulate, if you can, as a homo sapiens rather than a (I'll be generous) pithecanthropus erectus where is my lack of respect for the King dude who gave the US a holiday and the source of your other diatribes.
Come on, humor me, baby!
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