Someone forgot to send me an e-card wishing this me a happy one-year anniversary of blogging. I’m really hurt that no one noticed. Psyche.
In actuality, I had to dig through the crates of HIFI to find that this blog was born on December 17th, 2004. Conception was a rough procedure, creating quite a mess and casting doubt on the future. Maybe that’s why I blocked it out of memory. But the at the latest check-up, HIFI seems to be growing in a healthy way.
I wanted to revisit some zeniths/nadirs (depending on your point of view) of the past year-and-almost-two-months, which dovetails conveniently with Coretta Scott King’s death and funeral. I originally wrote about Mr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in this post, titled “Wack History Month”, on February 10th, 2005. Surprisingly, the comments I got were all in agreement with my point of view. I expected someone to take offense, and in time someone did. John, Jeremiah’s brother, posted this in response. We went back-and-forth in the comments section, but it seems using Haloscan for comments makes the old comments disappear. This is probably partially to my benefit, as I was foolishly licking my lips for an argument then and I was a bit immature with my responses.
Anyway, Coretta Scott King’s funeral took place yesterday. As is to be expected, there was plenty of race-hustling and politicization on display. The Chicago Sun-Times has one account here. But what I was entirely baffled by was the grandiose lengths that were taken to honor this woman. I’ll be the first to admit that I am not aware of any of the work of Coretta Scott King. The way she was eulogized made it seem like she was a central figure in American History during the past 50 years. Where have I been?
I haven’t been reading the news for that long, so maybe the answer lies there. But something tells me the truth is that Ms. King really hasn’t accomplished much since taking part in her husband’s efforts. I’d be willing to guess that most people out there, across every spectrum, could not name anything remarkable about Ms. King other than she was Martin Luther King, Jr.’s wife. For that, she deserves some praise, as it must have been terribly difficult to participate in the civil rights movement, as well as some pity, due to the documented infidelities that Mr. King committed.
Tragically, Coretta Scott King’s life wasn’t honored respectfully in private. Instead of burying Ms. King, the vultures exhumed the rotting corpse of institutional racism. And did the scavengers feed! From politician to pastor, these ugly birds gorged themselves, nourishing their need to appear virtuous. Why confront the living issues when they can easily have their fill of the dead? The lifeless don't put up much of a fight. And with a public so ignorant of the difference, these foul fowl can have their carrion and eat it, too.
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18 comments:
>>Ms. King really hasn’t accomplished much since taking part in her husband’s efforts<<
i disagree.
- she formed the Full Employment Action Council, a broad coalition of over 100 religious, labor, business, civil and women's rights organizations
-she helped form and led the King Center which receives over one million visitors a year, and has trained tens of thousands of students, teachers, community leaders and administrators in Dr. King's philosophy and strategy of nonviolence through seminars, workshops and training programs.
-her travels took her throughout the world on goodwill missions to Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia
-she marked the 20th Anniversary of the historic March on Washington, by leading a gathering of more than 800 human rights organizations, the Coalition of Conscience, in the largest demonstration the capital city had seen up to that time
-Mrs. King led the successful campaign to establish Dr. King's birthday, January 15, as a national holiday in the United States
-In 1985 Mrs. King and three of her children were arrested at the South African embassy in Washington, D.C., for protesting against that country's apartheid system of racial segregation and disenfranchisement
-she stood with Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg when he was sworn in as President of South Africa
Let me just say that if Coretta Scott King received a private funeral I never would have commented on her life.
Sadly, this list of "accomplishments" as well as the rest of her hagiography that was put in the papers highlights the irrelevance of the current civil rights movement.
>> - she formed the Full Employment Action Council, a broad coalition of over 100 religious, labor, business, civil and women's rights organizations <<
This has been echoed numerous times. But no one knows what this council actually does.
>>-she helped form and led the King Center which receives over one million visitors a year, and has trained tens of thousands of students, teachers, community leaders and administrators in Dr. King's philosophy and strategy of nonviolence through seminars, workshops and training programs.<<
The King Center has been poorly managed and ineffective, known more for its associated power struggles than any good deeds. Plus, a cursory look at the King Center mission statements reveals a pluralistic mess instead the Gospel.
>>-her travels took her throughout the world on goodwill missions to Africa, Latin America, Europe and Asia
-she marked the 20th Anniversary of the historic March on Washington, by leading a gathering of more than 800 human rights organizations, the Coalition of Conscience, in the largest demonstration the capital city had seen up to that time
-In 1985 Mrs. King and three of her children were arrested at the South African embassy in Washington, D.C., for protesting against that country's apartheid system of racial segregation and disenfranchisement
-she stood with Nelson Mandela in Johannesburg when he was sworn in as President of South Africa<<
These things reinforce Mrs. King's role as a front woman.
>>-Mrs. King led the successful campaign to establish Dr. (Mr.) King's birthday, January 15, as a national holiday in the United States<<
Her most lauded accomplishments are the King Center and the national holiday, which hardly can be called selfless endeavors. The national holiday is the epitome of pandering by politicians. Martin Luther King Jr. certainly does not deserve a national holiday. Read an essay regarding King's questionable character here.
The longer we continue to leave the moral failings of the civil rights movement unexamined, the longer the oppression born from multiculturalism will continue to cause suffering.
do you have a similar feelings towards rosa parks and her funeral arrangements?
>> do you have a similar feelings towards rosa parks and her funeral arrangements?<<
A fine question, my friend. A shared source of contempt for both women is their involvement in the genocidal Planned Parenthood. But Mrs. Parks should be lauded publicly for her courage in response to the Jim Crow laws. It should be noted that the segregation would have been solved by capitalism had the government not imposed its will, as the brilliant Thomas Sowell writes here.
The pertinent question is not whether Rosa Parks deserved a lavish funeral, but whether her husband, Raymond, did. Clearly he did not, and neither did Mrs. King.
>> a lavish funeral<<
its not ms. king's fault that her family made a spectacle of her funeral. i would have preferred you rip on the family, the list of presidents, ministers, etc. than on ms. king. i think she accomplished quite a bit, but even if she did not, she is a symbol of the civil rights movement. her death provided an opportunity to remember and to reassess where we are today in the healing process.
maybe martin luther king was a bad husband. maybe he chatted with some communists. i don't know. what i do know is that he inspired a movement that helped african-americans achieve equality. that is significant. i am a glass half-full guy. i have to apply that reasoning to lots of people who have some skethy bios: martin luther, john calvin, george washington, thomas jefferson, pepperdeaf, oneway, etc.
>>These owners may have been racists themselves but they were in business to make a profit -- and you don't make a profit by alienating a lot of your customers.<<
is Sowell an Ayn Rand objectivist? his total reliance and faith in capitalism is very scary.
Ayn Rand says that productive achievement is man's noblest activity. it seems Sowell would agree. objectivists also say that if a women's baby interferes with her potential productive achievement it should be aborted. i.e. if the baby is not profitable, then it should be disposed of. capitalism is not inherently good.
capitalism alienates customers regularly in favor of more profitable ones. for instance, i have recently been reading about the proclivity of heart disease amongst the poor. it turns out that one of the reasons for this is that grocery stores selling quality products refuse to locate in poor neighborhoods because they can not make the exceedingly large profits they can in the suburbs. instead the poor neighborhoods get mcdonalds. cheap, unhealthy stuff with larger profit margins.
the point is that you do make a profit by alienating poor customers in favor of wealthier ones that are willing to pay more money for a ride on a bus. that is why we have government regulation of power companies etc. it prevents the power companies from deciding one day that they are just going to take down the power lines in poor neighborhoods because they are not using enough power for the company to make large profits.
>>genocidal Planned Parenthood<<
your opinion here seems contradictory to your insistence on personal responsibility in other instances. would you say the nra is responsible for the deaths of all americans killed by guns? you may disagree with planned parenthood's positions on many issues (i do too), but i am not sure they have killed anyone.
time for bed.
rosa parks and her funeral arrangements...
The interesting thing is that Mrs. Parks is so laudified (largely rightfully so) for sitting on the bus, but she wasn't even the first arrested for doing it (Claudette Colvin had been arrested, but her social situation made the civil rights leaders wary of using her as the test case). She just became famous as she was the one whose action prompted MLK to get involved and the massive protests to begin.
I often wonder if those who are most honored are not always those who are most deserving.
>>its not ms. king's fault that her family made a spectacle of her funeral<<
While it's true that she couldn't have stopped the circus, the evidence does not suggest she would have. She took an active role in canonizing Martin by suppressing the truth about his suspect character, of which she must of had some notion. Hillary is basically playing a similar game to gain power now.
If her family truly betrayed Coretta's wishes, where is the guilt-ridden close friend of Coretta's to decry this tragedy? If the funeral went against Mrs. King's character, where is the call for justice among her noble supporters? Maybe they were swept up in the sorrow, and now, they are biding for their moment on Oprah. One can hope.
>>i would have preferred you rip on the family, the list of presidents, ministers, etc.<<
I did.
>>her death provided an opportunity to remember and to reassess where we are today in the healing process.<<
That's precisely what I'm doing. The truth is that the civil rights activists today have a great incentive for the healing to never finish. What would Al Sharpton do if America realized his irrelevance, pastor a church for the first time?
>>maybe martin luther king was a bad husband. maybe he chatted with some communists. i don't know.<<
This is part of the problem. If you wanted to know, you could.
>>what i do know is that he inspired a movement that helped african-americans achieve equality.<<
As an orator, he knew no equal. But mic skills don't equal character. Look at his supposed heirs: Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. What do all three men have in common? Infidelity. Coincidence? The reason these painful truths must be brought to light is that broken families are the real reason poverty is relatively widespread among black people in America. There is a problem with black culture, and its consequence is the destruction of marriage. As long as we are afraid of confronting these awful truths, injustice will reign.
>>i am a glass half-full guy.<<
If so, then join me in emptying some glasses.
>>is Sowell an Ayn Rand objectivist?<<
Instead of wildly speculating on Sowell's philosophical influences, it would be more fruitful if you actually critiqued his assessment of government-imposed segregation.
>>Ayn Rand says that productive achievement is man's noblest activity.<<
I'd agree with this statement.
>>capitalism is not inherently good.<<
Well, it can be used for evil. That being said, American capitalism has brought more freedom to more people than any other economic system ever invented. It that sense, it is relatively good.
>>i have recently been reading about the proclivity of heart disease amongst the poor.<<
Let me throw this out there: Part of being poor is not being as healthy as everyone else.
>>...instead the poor neighborhoods get mcdonalds. cheap, unhealthy stuff with larger profit margins.<<
Have you actually looked at these "profit margins", for either McDonald's or grocery stores? Guess what would happen to Whole Foods Market if they set up shop in the hood. No one would go. Why can't I eat some Checker's seasoned fries in the suburbs? Not enough demand. It's that simple, but basic economic knowledge is scarce.
>>you may disagree with planned parenthood's positions on many issues (i do too), but i am not sure they have killed anyone.<<
Planned Parenthood's "health" centers offer abortions. Margaret Sanger, founder, combined eugenics and racism in her diabolical ethos. Today, you can find Planned Parenthood in every hood. Did I miss something?
>>(Claudette Colvin had been arrested, but her social situation made the civil rights leaders wary of using her as the test case)<<
Well, Colvin's scandalous pregnancy was more of a moral situation, in that the NAACP understood the public was concerned with character back then.
>>The truth is that the civil rights activists today have a great incentive for the healing to never finish<<
this is the essence of why we disagree on race issues. you seem to believe that civil rights leaders have an invested interest in keeping the status quo as oppossed to progression. i tend to believe that folks with money have an invested interest in keeping the money they have. lets hope we are not both right, but sometimes i fear we are.
tell me if you think this is a fair assessment.
I'm not sure that I understand your point, pep.
>>you seem to believe that civil rights leaders have an invested interest in keeping the status quo as oppossed to progression. i tend to believe that folks with money have an invested interest in keeping the money they have.<<
What is the relationship between these two statements? I don't understand the assessment, but I can comment on them individually.
On civil rights leaders: This is an obvious truth. I read of the Jim Crow south and it breaks my heart. But, it's over. I'm all for persuading people to give up their time and money to help others. This is the calling of the Church, because in CHOOSING to give we glorify God. This divine opportunity is robbed with every government social experiment.
On folks with money: If you have money, you have to invest it, or else inflation eats away at it. You can't hoard it. This is a good thing, because people with money are always looking for people that can make more. But not all businesses gain. Why does a business gain? Because it uses the least resources to make the most products or offer the most services to the most people at the lowest price. All of which are great consequences for society as a whole.
Because resources are scare, there has to be a way to allocate them. Either you let people decide, or some tyrannical group decides. History shows letting people decide utilizes the collective wisdom of the masses which outperforms the central planners.
The Church's blessed role is to teach and demonstrate that being generous is the most profitable way of life. By spreading Christian financial wisdom, the Church can create demand for products and services that line up with the Bible.
>>What is the relationship<<
i think civil rights leaders help to implement change. you seem to think more wealth does (maybe that is the hang up. . . you presume more wealth means it will be distributed while i presume it will continue to go to the already rich).
>>it's over<<
this is probably the real indicactor of our differences.
obviously jim crow laws are gone, but i do not believe their impacts are.
it is crazy to think, with respect to african americans for instance, that we can enslave them for 90 years, discriminate against them for another 100, and then expect everything to be fine in 50.
any basic understanding of family counseling reveals that many social, emotional, psychological issues go back many generations.
i think it is unfair and unwise to systemically ignore the african-american population, for example, and expect them to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and succeed.
oppression breeds hopelessness. hopelessness leads to fatigue. fatigue leads to loss of morality.
this is all passed down socially through families.
>>obviously jim crow laws are gone, but i do not believe their impacts are.<<
This thought occurs at the underestimation of human potential. Black families were dramatically improving their lives before even the Civil Rights Act, without any government interference. Well-intentioned welfare and aid programmes destroyed those improvements by rewarding immoral behavior, and today the cause-and-effect continues.
>> any basic understanding of family counseling reveals that many social, emotional, psychological issues go back many generations.<<
This is the real impasse. Your thoughts are suitable for the counselor’s couch, perhaps. But oppression is spreading in America by public policy dictated by a therapy-addicted culture. Black families are most harmed by self-congratulatory activists pushing for more racist preferential treatment by the government. History shows this.
>> i think it is unfair and unwise to systemically ignore the african-american population, for example, and expect them to pick themselves up by the bootstraps and succeed.<<
Ignore? Be serious. If black Americans were there own nation, they’d be the 11th richest nation in the world by GDP.
Try Frederick Douglas:
“Everybody has asked the question. . .’What shall we do with the Negro?’ I have had but one answer from the beginning. Do nothing with us! Your doing with us has already played the mischief with us. Do nothing with us! If the apples will not remain on the tree of their own strength, if they are wormeaten at the core, if they are early ripe and disposed to fall, let them fall! I am not for tying or fastening them on the tree in any way, except by nature's plan, and if they will not stay there, let them fall. And if the Negro cannot stand on his own legs, let him fall also. All I ask is, give him a chance to stand on his own legs! Let him alone!”
a little off topic, but i still think ms. king has done quite a lot since her husband was shot.
she was an advocate for the oppressed. sounds jesus-like to me. i support jesus-like stuff even if they (or their husbands) do other stuff that is not jesus-like. (i do not support that stuff)
"Not everyone who says to Me, `Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Many will say to Me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
And then I will declare to them, `I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'" (Matthew 7:21-23)
i think civil rights leaders help to implement change.
So who are some folks doing that today? I ask honestly out of ignorance. I am only familiar with chasers who fit oneway's criteria of having personal gain wrapped up in their endeavors.
>>who are some folks<<
here are a few. the top two are outstanding.
John Perkins
Ronald Walters
Michael Fauntroy
Judith Lichtman
Dorothy Height
Ann Tallman
Karen Narasaki
Marc Morial
i have respect for the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and most of their member organizations and leadership. See Executive Committee.
a great resource for african-american leaders in particular is The History Makers
There are not many people that are willng to go against the status quo and embrace the truth no matter what the cost. "Civil Rights" as degenerated into a euphemism. Look how Bill Cosby was crucified for stepping out of line.
If you want some black people that will speak the truth about black culture, check out:
Two brilliant but never dry economists:
Thomas Sowell
Walter Williams
One of the best evangelical blogs around is run by:
La Shawn Barber
Others:
Josh McWhorter
Star Parker
Larry Elder
Deroy Murdock
Oh, and thanks for your comments Pep and Westy, I appreciate all of them.
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