Make America Learn History Again: Martin Luther King Jr. and Reagan

It’s real history, as told by some All American Man in my inbox and me.

Jan 15, 2024

I have a dream, that one day conservatives will stop misrepresenting Martin Luther King Jr. and stop using just segments of his words to pretend he was some sort of conservative icon. I don’t suppose they will though until it stops being beneficial to them. At the very least, what we can do is share the reality. Even from the beginning of King’s birthday becoming a national holiday, conservatives have been using the day to benefit themselves. Ronald Reagan, our infamously anti civil rights president, was no exception.

(Please note, these men believe I am a conservative because of my satirical bait profile for these purposes.)

“Whites, it must frankly be said, are not putting in a similar mass effort to reeducate themselves out of their racial ignorance. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn. The reality of substantial investment to assist Negroes into the twentieth century, adjusting to Negro neighbors and genuine school integration, is still a nightmare for all too many white Americans…These are the deepest causes for contemporary abrasions between the races. Loose and easy language about equality, resonant resolutions about brotherhood fall pleasantly on the ear, but for the Negro there is a credibility gap he cannot overlook. He remembers that with each modest advance the white population promptly raises the argument that the Negro has come far enough. Each step forward accents an ever-present tendency to backlash.”

— Where Do We Go From Here: 1967 Martin Luther King Jr.

Sources:

The Struggle For The People’s King by Hajar Yazdiha

History, Collective Memory, and the Appropriation of Martin Luther King, Jr.: Reagan's Rhetorical Legacy by Denise Bostdorff and Steven Goldzwig