On selective historical appropriation and Dr. MLK Jr.'s philosophy
(Plus: a belated Best of 2021)
One of the most confounding elements of American life is the way we often view historical figures primarily as fodder for inspirational quotes, which comes at the expense of their more nuanced, provocative, critical, and inconvenient thoughts.
To some extent, we as a country have been confronting the issue of historical ignorance or oversight more seriously lately, as we consider what to do about certain uncomfortable truths—like how most of the founding fathers owned slaves, how celebrities we have lionized were almost surely pretty awful people, and how even seemingly anodyne public memorials to our nation’s historical figures and events were erected during Jim Crow precisely to glorify the values of the Confederacy (rather than to serve as mere markers of history, as many defenders of these monuments would have you believe).
These are all examples where the people in question professed morally bad views, or else did very bad things that disqualify them from celebration, which some are nevertheless content to overlook. Another important dimension of the same broad phenomenon, however, is our tendency to celebrate only the most convenient aspects of an individual’s belief system, while disregarding those that are incongruent with one’s present values—not because they are taken as bad (though some would surely disagree), but, I’ll suggest, because they make some of us uncomfortable, or they stand at odds with our other various commitments.
This, I think, is precisely what has happened to Dr. King. His legacy on civil disobedience and anti-racism is rightly celebrated. It’s actually pretty remarkable that he is such a universally celebrated figure in this country, merely a few decades after his own government orchestrated attempts to destroy his reputation and kill him. The “I Have a Dream” speech is, of course, iconic and for good reason. His impact on making progress toward racial equality is extraordinary.
But his philosophy and approach to these issues was also so much more nuanced than most people—even those who profess to admire him—realize.
Perhaps the most common example of this comes from his beautiful “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” the most famous section of which is as follows:
First, I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
– “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” April 16, 1963
Fortunately, Dr. King’s views on the white moderate have become much more well known in recent years—or at least that’s my perception. These views are especially inconvenient for those who viewed BLM protests as annoying and disruptive, or who just wished naively that everyone would simply get along, without thinking much about what that would mean in terms of trade-offs between justice and peace, and who benefited most from that proposed solution.
Relatedly, while King is rightly celebrated as a champion of civil disobedience, his views on uncivil disobedience were a bit more complex than is often appreciated. (Cf. debates with Malcolm X.) Here we see, in a quote that was widely circulated by many on the left during the summer of 2020, that though King was strategically and philosophically against violent protests, he understood their source well, and placed the blame elsewhere than many of those critical of the (rare) violence** during the BLM protests:
Let me say as I've always said, and I will always continue to say, that riots are socially destructive and self-defeating. ... But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, equality, and humanity. And so in a real sense our nation's summers of riots are caused by our nation's winters of delay. And as long as America postpones justice, we stand in the position of having these recurrences of violence and riots over and over again.
– “The Other America” (1967)
(**Also, let me just quickly clarify that I do not think destroying physical property is violence in any important sense of the word, and suggesting it is seems to me to be yet another way we’ve allowed personal or private property to be viewed as extensions of ourselves—something that I think is at least partly a byproduct of capitalist ideology. The way we have allowed the idea of violence to creep conceptually way beyond its central meaning—something that is done by those with a range of political commitments—is both ideologically troubling and unhelpful for the discourse.)
Actually, on that point, let’s shift slightly to Dr. King’s views on capitalism and socialism. Here is just a quick collection of some important and representative quotes:
“Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God’s children.”
– Speech to the Negro American Labor Council, 1961.
“We must see now that the evils of racism, economic exploitation and militarism are all tied together… you can’t really get rid of one without getting rid of the others…”
- Report to SCLC Staff, May 1967.
“The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.”
– Where do We Go from Here?, 1967.
“Whenever the government provides opportunities in privileges for white people and rich people they call it “subsidized” when they do it for Negro and poor people they call it “welfare.” The fact that is the everybody in this country lives on welfare. Suburbia was built with federally subsidized credit. And highways that take our white brothers out to the suburbs were built with federally subsidized money to the tune of 90 percent. Everybody is on welfare in this country. The problem is that we all to often have socialism for the rich and rugged free enterprise capitalism for the poor. That’s the problem.”
– “The Minister to the Valley,” February 23, 1968
The central theme in these passages is that King was definitely at least very curious about, if not a full-on proponent of democratic socialism. And yet, he would certainly have been vilified by every existing conservative politician alive today, just as they do to AOC the 'The Squad’. That’s a significant part of why it’s so unbelievably frustrating to see so many Republican politicians favorably quoting only the more anodyne parts of MLK’s oeuvre today.
To be clear, I’m not saying that in order to celebrate someone’s life and legacy, you have to co-sign everything they’ve ever said. Obviously that’s not the standard, nor should it be.
But when people who not only fundamentally disagree with, but actively campaign and fight against—and at times, outright mock—the central themes of Dr. King’s philosophy quote him favorably (especially on days like today), it’s not just a matter of celebrating certain parts of his legacy and setting aside others. Given the overall coherence and integration of his thought, it’s more akin to taking these quotes entirely out of context. This is a deeply cynical form of appropriation that, were it not so pervasive, would shock most of us.
(As a brief aside, there’s a closely related form of appropriation of King that’s also quite obnoxious, particularly because of the ironic relationship with capitalism. See the picture below, which just came through my email a little over an hour ago. Notice, as well, that these extended stay hotels are often frequently used by those who suffer from severe housing insecurity, which only sharpens the irony here.)
Returning back to the more general observation I made at the outset: this all seems to me to be part of our perhaps-uniquely-American tendency to be exceptionally selective about how we interpret or use history for present goals. This is, I think, deeply tethered to current controversies, like the increased desire to ban ‘Critical Race Theory’ (a term that few who are upset by it could even attempt to define), enforce ‘patriotic’ standards in K12 education, and so on.
For a country with so much to answer for in our very short history, we sure do a terrible job of reckoning with it in the present.
Recommendations:
As some of you know, I’ve been working with the Navy SEALs quite a bit over the last few months as part of their Platoon Leader’s Course curriculum. My job is to do the ‘ethics’ brief, which is a three-hour lecture/discussion about ethics issues that the SEALs face. One of the major, high-profile cases recently has involved Eddie Gallagher. If you’re not familiar with the case, you could read a few articles about it. But if you’re interested at all, I’d recommend either the book Alpha by David Philipps, which I just finished recently, or the podcast “The Line” (as well as the corresponding Apple+ show of the same name, which I have not yet watched, but I’m sure is good). The case is infuriating on a number of levels, but it shines a bright light on the difficulty of embedding ethics in a fundamentally killing-centric organization, as well as deep questions about the nature and demands of loyalty.
You would be doing me a personal favor to pay some attention to the ongoing academic freedom crisis at my current institution, the University of Florida. In short, several faculty have been prevented from offering expert testimony that might be viewed as unfavorable to the DeSantis administration, and there is growing evidence that pressure has been exerted by university leadership (who have questionably close relationships with the Governor’s office) to hide or destroy unfavorable data about COVID. Similar problems are arising for those aiming to teach courses on racial issues. It’s embarrassing—and, worse, frightening.
Belated Favorites of 2021:
I had also had plans for a whole post on just my favorites of 2021, but I never got around to it. Given that it’s nearly a month into 2022 now, it’s probably too late for that post. So I’ll just share some highlights here:
Best (general audience) articles I read:
The previously recommended piece in The Atlantic about the Time Tax
This piece in Jacobin about how even ‘woke’ companies can still exploit workers. (The issue here is rather small in comparison to many others one could cite, but it highlights an important issue.)
This delightful history of French ‘tacos’ in The New Yorker (in short: they’re not like the tacos you’re imagining, and their history is fascinating)
I’ve referenced this piece many times this year: on why we shouldn’t place so much value on the deathbed perspective.
Best books:
The Right to Sex by Amia Srinivasan. Such an amazing book by an unbelievably gifted philosopher. (Accessible to non-philosophers, for sure; and it will absolutely challenge your thinking on several issues, I assure you.)
The Idiot by Elif Batuman. So many beautiful lines and so many laugh-out-loud funny bits. I found myself taking pictures of paragraphs with my phone just so I could go back to them later.
A Field Guide to Getting lost by Rebecca Solnit. Impossible to say what this book is ‘about’, other than a series of meandering ruminations on the idea of loss, being lost, etc. Beautifully written—really, truly, beautiful. Just let yourself get swept up in her thoughts.
Best TV:
Succession, season 3 (HBO Max). If you aren’t watching yet, you’re missing out. It’s the best show on TV, hands down.
Dopesick (Hulu). Miniseries portraying of the opioid crisis and Purdue Pharma’s role in making it happen. Infuriating.
Scenes from a Marriage (HBO Max). Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac putting on a clinic.
Bo Burnham: Inside (Netflix). I think we’ll be watching this, or talking about it in some form or another, for a long, long time.
Best movies: (Honestly there weren’t too many I liked this year that I’d really recommend!)
Green Knight. Pretty good, but I could see why some people would have hated it. Beautiful cinematography, though.
Shiva Baby. Just a cringey, hilarious little comedy.
Best podcasts:
The Line (noted above)
The Argument (NY Times). I like it better since Jane Coaston took over. She’s just a much deeper thinker, which gives the show more of a conversational and thoughtful tone, as opposed to in its earlier days when it just felt like another opportunity for Ross Douthat to rehash his op-eds.
The Ezra Klein show, specifically this episode with Agnes Callard. She’s a delightfully counterintuitive thinker, which makes for a really provocative and enjoyable discussion.
Other:
On the suggestion of a friend, I got really into the Paper Plane cocktail in the latter half of this year. I have, I think, convinced several other people that it is great. Maybe I can convince you as well. Here’s a recipe: It is equal parts bourbon, aperol, amaro nonino, and lemon juice. Amaro nonino is quite hard to find (and expensive), but the fancy cocktail bar in town makes it with amaro montenegro and it tastes the same to me. It’s very good! Try it!
If you made it this far, thank you for indulging me. As always, I appreciate hearing your thoughts on any of the above—positive, negative, or otherwise. Hope you’re having a great 2022 so far!
–JVD