[January 18, 2021] For his nonviolent activism in the Civil Rights Movement, Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. has rightfully taken his place in the struggle for peace and acceptance of all people – regardless of race. His legacy is sound but under attack from leftist activists who reject King’s philosophy.
Today is Martin Luther King Day in the United States. After many years of campaigning by civil rights activists, Congress members, and the public, U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday in honor of King. His actions in the Civil Rights Movement were based upon his Christian beliefs that people should be judged by their actions and not their skin color.
“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
King’s sentence sounds clear and unequivocal, but a debate over its meaning, especially in the last few years, has spurred a growing anti-American ideology. This ideology is the Marxist-like idea that America is an irredeemable racist, homophobic, sexist country.
King was a man with a vision. His Christian principles helped propel his message throughout America and the world. Here is my list of what were King’s core beliefs:
- God’s law and love conquer all.
- Intolerance for racial injustice.
- Civil change comes from practical, nonviolent action.
- All society members have a moral obligation to rise above the limitations of human-made laws steeped in hatred.
By the time the Civil Rights Era was over, the U.S. had a monumental shift in the idea that people should be treated on their character’s content, rather than on their skin color. This principle, often called a color-blind view of race, is changing.
Called “progressivism,” there is a clarion call for race-based laws that establish preferential treatment of citizens based on race.
Those who believe this idea of racial preference discard Rev. King’s teachings by re-interpreting his beliefs to support their ideology. Progressives operating under different names like Antifa and Black Lives Matter use violent means to “protest” (read that as rioting, looting, burning, and murder) against what they call “systemic racial injustice.” Their followers adopt positions without any understanding of Rev. King or the Civil Rights Movement.
Progressive ideology is dangerous. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy is being destroyed by those who say they are fighting against racial injustice.
This article hits close to home. Americans learned about fairness and how discrimination in any form is harmful and unethical. Anyone who supports discrimination is killing MLK’s dreams. Too bad the political leftists and weak-minded college professors are taking his legacy apart piece by piece.
You got that right!!!
Go USA.
I’m one of Clinton’s deplorables in the Midwest.
🇺🇸
Gen. Satterfield has presented a common view of the destruction of Rev. MLK’s legacy of a society based not on racial preferences but based on a “person’s character.” That is a common view, held by most Americans. There is a line of thinking that goes to the extreme of saying that there must be somehow justice to those who were “denied” opportunities; thus reparations or preferences in hiring, etc. This has been a long-time in coming with little pushback because no one thought it credible but with new socialist agendas being presented by Joe Biden, pres-elect, that is changing. How that will play out doesn’t look good for hard working Americans. More on this later.
Sooooo true. Max, you certainly nailed this one. I fear that we are embarking on a socialist experiment that will not end well, as it never ends well.
“Socialist experiment” like all experiments are mostly prone to fail. In the case of the socialist exp, historically, they ALL fail. That is why America is so important to the world. 🇺🇸
Good point Max and thanks for pointing this out. It is a sad state of affairs when ‘wokism’ starts to take over.
Thanks Gen. Satterfield for another exceptional article and description – accurately, IMHO – of what is happening. Remember that this PC ideology is about picking and choosing which “rights” people have. Some rights, they note, are more important than others.
Yep …..
First Amendment to the US Constitution = good (with some parts of it removed).
Second Amendment to the US Constitution = bad (confiscate guns).
I have found that so-called progressives love to claim MLK but undermine his teachings as well as Christianity. No surprise to anyone who has been paying attention.
As this day goes on, I’ll be interested to see what others have written on the subject of MLK Day and the legacy of such a great man. Let’s take note of those who twist his words and expose them for the hypocrites that they are.
Yes, thank you Gen. Satterfield for a point of view on how Martin Luther King, Jr.’s legacy is being dismantled bit by bit by a PC ideology that is destroying our society.
Yep, bit by bit. 👍
I agree with you Jose. We all need to be on the lookout for this destructive ideology that is gaining speed in the USA. With the election of Joe Biden (did he really win?), we will see this way of moral superiority thinking continue unmatched for many more years. What will be the end result? I have no idea but it is not a good thing.
It has been said that his PC ideology or Progressivism is a destructive force that is based upon a lie. No doubt that it is. Most unfortunate is that Democrat Party politicians have grasped it to gain power.
“It is difficult to comprehend that King was only 39 years old at the time of his assassination in Memphis on April 4, 1968, or that the prospect of his death weighed so heavily on his mind. He seems too young to have accomplished so much, or to have maintained his judgment under such trying circumstances. The magnitude of his own trials must have had a deep impact on him.” — Powerlineblog.com from today.
Part of the problem with the destruction of Rev. King’s legacy (meaning his philosophy) is that what is said and believed is not taught in school anymore. They teach PC trash and weave MLK’s words (changed often) into their world.
Right, the subject of our failing education system is another long subject to discuss but are at the root of the problem we are facing today.
Wishing everyone across the world a happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. I know it is only in the USA but everyone can learn from his legacy, what he said and wrote, and his approach to improving the civil rights of others. Today, there is a movement to take away the civil rights of others and to rise the civil rights of some higher than others.
Sad, but I think you are right that MLK’s legacy is being destroyed by those who “know better” and are (in their minds) “morally superior” to us. Just think about it. THey have taken Rev. King’s words and twisted them to mean the opposite of what he said. That is why it is so sad. I cannot imagine myself taking words and convincing myself that they mean the exact opposite of what he said.
Mental gymnastics. 👍
Did you ever actually talk with one of these ideologues? I did. It’s another world experience. They key here is that they do believe they are better than the rest of us, that they know better, and that we had better adopt their thinking for we deserve to be “eliminated.”
Good points, Tom and Audrey. Don’t be surprised. Hitler, Mussolini, Pol Pot, Lenin, and a long line of communist leaders thought the same.
Yes, and when you are told over and over that the sky is purple, you will eventually believe it regardless of what you see with your own eyes.
This is a point, Sean, that many miss. I was taught the principles of propaganda when I was in junior high school by my history teacher. I don’t remember his name or what grade exactly but I do remember those principles. One of the most powerful is a message that is repeated over and over, even an obvious lie. People eventually start to believe it. To overcome propaganda, one must know how to read, think, and debate ideas. We are no longer taught such skills.
Yeah, too much time playing games in the basement of our parents.
Yes, his legacy of “character” determining who were are – good or bad – is being dismantled brick by brick, slowly but surely by Progressive ideologues.
Yep. Sad situation….