# Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 14, 2000, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926 "2000-01-14T22:56:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/21 "2000-01-15T03:12:00Z")
I have a Dream… You included, Asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/22 "2000-01-15T03:41:00Z")
The only person besides Christ with his name in a public holiday? What about Saint Valentine, Francisco Arbor, Hobart Flag, and Ted Independence? ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/23 "2000-01-15T04:09:00Z")
Dis be his speech befo some honky cleaned it up: I gots some Dream by Martin Luda’ Kin’, Jr. Ah be baaad… Delivered on de steps at da damn Lincoln Memo’ial in Wuzhin’ton D.C. on August 28, 1963 Five sco’e years ago, some great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed de Emancipashun Proclamashun. Dis momentous decree came as some great beacon light uh hope to millions uh Negro slaves who had been seared in de flames uh widerin’ injustice. It came as a joya’s daybust t’end da damn long night uh captivity. Slap mah fro! But one hundred years later, we gots’ta face da damn tragic fact dat da damn Negro be still not free. One hundred years later, de life uh de Negro be still sadly crippled by de manacles uh segregashun and de chains uh discriminashun. One hundred years later, de Negro lives on some lonely island uh poverty in de midst uh a vast ocean uh material prospuh’ity. Slap mah fro! One hundred years later, de Negro be still languishin’ in de co’ners uh American society and finds himself an ‘esile in his own land. So’s we have mosey on down here today t’dramatize an appallin’ condishun. In some sense we gots mosey on down to our nashun’s capital t’cash some check. Ya’ know? When de architects uh our republic wrote da damn magnificent wo’ds uh de Constitushun and da damn declarashun uh Independence, dey wuz signin’ some promisso’y note t’which every American wuz t’fall heir. Ah be baaad… Dain’te wuz a promise dat all dudes would be guaranteed da damn inalienable rights uh life, liberty, and da damn pursuit of happiness. It be obvious today dat America gots defaulted on dis promisso’y note insofar as ha’ citizens of colo’ is concerned. Instead uh hono’in’ dis sacred obligashun, America gots given de Negro sucka’s some baaaad check which gots come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse t’recon’ dat da damn bank uh justice be bankrupt. Man! We refuse t’recon’ dat dere is insufficient funds in de great vaults uh oppo’tunity uh dis nashun. So’s we gots mosey on down to cash dis check – some check dat will cut us downon demand da damn riches uh freedom and da damn security uh justice. We gots also mosey on down to dis hallowed spot t’remind America uh de fierce urgency uh now, so cut me some slack, Jack. Dis be no time t’engage in de luxury uh waaay coo’in’ off o’ t’snatch de tranquilizin’ drug uh gradualism. WORD! Now be de time t’rise fum de dark and desolate valley uh segregashun t’de sunlit alley uh racial justice. Now be de time to jimmey de doo’s uh oppo’tunity t’all uh God’s children. ‘S coo’, bro. Now be de time t’lift our nashun fum de quicksands uh racial injustice t’de solid rock uh broderhood. It would be fatal fo’ de nashun t’overlook de urgency uh de moment and t’underestimate de determinashun uh de Negro. ‘S coo’, bro. Dis swelterin’ summa’ of de Negro’s legitimate discontent gots’ta not pass until dere be an invigo’atin’ autumn uh freedom and equality. Slap mah fro! Nineteen sixty-dree be not an end, but some beginnin’. Dose who hope dat da damn Negro needed t’blow off steam and gots’ta now be content gots’ta some rude awakenin’ if de nashun returns t’business as usual. Dere gots’ta be neider rest no’ tranquility in America until de Negro be granted his citizenship rights. De whirlwinds of revolt gots’ta continue t’shake da damn foundashuns uh our nashun until de bright day uh justice emerges. But dere be sump’n dat ah’ gots’ta say t’my sucka’s who stand on de warm dreshold which leads into de palace uh justice. In de process uh gainin’ our rightful place we gots’ta not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek t’satisfy our dirst fo’ freedom by drinkin’ fum de cup of bitterness and hatred. We gots’ta fo’eva’ conduct our struggle on de high plane uh dignity and discipline. We gots’ta not allow our creative protest t’degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we gots’ta rise to de majestic heights uh meetin’ physical fo’ce wid soul fo’ce. De marvelous new militancy which has engulfed da damn Negro community gots’ta not lead us t’distrust uh all honky sucka’s, fo’ many uh our honky broders, as evidenced by deir presence here today, gots mosey on down to realize dat deir destiny is tied down wid our destiny and deir freedom be inextricably bound t’our freedom. WORD! We kinnot walk alone. And as we walk, we gots’ta make da damn pledge dat we shall march ahaid. We kinnot turn back. Ya’ know? Dere is dose who is ax’in’ de devotees uh civil rights, “When gots’ta ya’ be satisfied?” We kin neva’ be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy wid de fatigue uh travel, kinnot gain lodgin’ in de motels uh de highways and da damn hotels uh de cities. We kinnot be satisfied as long as de Negro’s basic mobility be from some smalla’ ghetto t’a larga’ one. We kin neva’ be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi kinnot vote and some Negro in New Yo’k recon’s he gots nodin’ fo’ which to vote. No, no, we is not satisfied, and we gots’ta not be satisfied until justice rolls waaay down likes boozes and righteousness likes some mighty stream. WORD! I’s gots’ta be not unmindful dat some uh ya’ gots mosey on down here out uh great trials and tribulashuns. Some of ya’ gots mosey on down fresh fum narrow cells. Some uh ya’ gots mosey on down from areas where yo’ quest fo’ freedom left ya’ battered by de sto’ms uh puh’secushun and staggered by de winds uh honky pigs brutality. Slap mah fro! You’s gots been de veterans uh creative sufferin’. Continue t’wo’k wid de faid dat unearned sufferin’ be redemptive. Go back t’Mississippi, go back t’Alabama, go back t’Geo’gia, go back t’Louisiana, go back to de slums and ghettos uh our no’dern cities, knowin’ dat somehow dis situashun kin and will be changed. Let us not wallow in de valley uh despair. Ah be baaad… I say t’ya’ today, mah’ homeys, dat in spite uh de difficulties and frustrashuns uh de moment, ah’ still have some dream. WORD! It be a dream deeply rooted in de American dream. WORD! I gots some dream dat one day dis nashun gots’ta rise down and live out da damn true meanin’ uh its creed, dig dis: “We hold dese truds t’be self-evident, dig dis: dat all dudes are created equal.” I gots some dream dat one day on de red hills uh Geo’gia da damn sons uh fo’ma’ slaves and da damn sons of fo’ma’ slaveowners gots’ta be able t’sit waaay down togeda’ at some table uh broderhood. I gots some dream dat one day even de state uh Mississippi, some desert state, swelterin’ wid de heat of injustice and oppression, gots’ta be transfo’med into an oasis uh freedom and justice. I gots some dream dat mah’ foe children gots’ta one day live in some nashun where dey gots’ta not be judged by de colo’ uh deir skin but by de content uh deir character. Ah be baaad… I gots some dream today. Slap mah fro! I gots some dream dat one day de state uh Alabama, whose governo’‘s lips is presently drippin’ wid de wo’ds uh interposishun and nullificashun, gots’ta be transfo’med into some situashun where little black boys and brother goats gots’ta be able t’join hands wid little honky boys and honky goats and walk togeda’ as sisters and broders. I gots some dream today. Slap mah fro! I gots some dream dat one day every valley shall be ‘esalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, de rough places gots’ta be made plain, and da damn crooked places gots’ta be made straight, and de glo’y uh de Lo’d shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it togeder. Ah be baaad… Dis be our hope. Dis be de faid wid which ah’ return t’de Soud. Wid dis faid we gots’ta be able to hew out uh de mountain uh despair some stone uh hope. Wid dis faid we gots’ta be able t’transfo’m de janglin’ disco’ds uh our nashun into some fine symphony uh broderhood. Wid dis faid we gots’ta be able t’wo’k togeder, t’pray togeder, t’struggle togeder, t’go t’jail togeder, t’stand down fo’ freedom togeder, knowin’ dat we gots’ta be free one day ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/24 "2000-01-15T04:46:00Z")
Of course, I would love to make some witty post about the kind of speech Racist Scumbag (I’ll even clean up the spelling of your name) would make. Then, I realized that would be impossible without the use of complete sentences, coherent thought, rationalization on the same level as a maladjusted 3 year old, and common sense. Also, I find it impossible to make a post of one-syllable words that are spelled incorrectly. * * * Well, shut my mouth. It’s also illegal to put squirrels down your pants for the purposes of gambling. ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/25 "2000-01-15T05:00:00Z")
Here’s our racist friend’s OP rant, translated back to the way he most likely screams it when he’s wearing that sheet. > [@](#): > > As we approach t’other Martin Luther Kin’ (MLK) federal holiday it sh’d be pointed out thet Kin’ was a theological liberal–he > rejecked sech dockrines as origeenal sin, the virgin birth, an’ th’ physical resurreckshun of Jedt. Th’ abundant evidence docoomntin’ > MLK’s communist ties, revolushunary goals, plagiarisms, adulterous woominizin’, an’ theological liberalism is igno’ed when hono’in’ > him in this hyar way. Once agin last year we’ve had our annual brainwarshin’ about Martin Luther Kin’ by the liberals who is > obviously nevah interested in th’ truth. Otherwise they’d be tryin’ t’open th’ 14 file cabinets full of eavesdroppin’ data obtained by th’ > FBah in the microphone surveillance of Kin’, which have been sealed until th’ year 2027 t’hide repo’ts of his dejunerate sexual > excapades, embezzlin’, an’ relashunship wif Soviet ajunts. Whole volooms is labeled obscene. Some 64,000 pages of heavily deleted > docoomnts, not covahed by court o’der, were released unner th’ Freedom of Info’mashun Ack t’Sen, as enny fool kin plainly see. > Jesse Helms an’ Th’ Conservative Caucus in 1983. Even this hyar was igno’ed by liberals determined thet Kin’ be named a secular > saint. Yet they freely exposed the sins of Jim Bakker an’ Jimmah Swaggart. Among menny of these thin’s repo’ted include whut th’ > files called a two-day, drunken sex o’gy at th’ Willard Hotel involvin’ Kin’, Southern Leadership Conference colleagues, an’ two > wimmen fum th’ Philade’phia Naval Yard, cuss it all t’ tarnation. A Las Vegas prosteetoote complained in t’other repo’t about > violence t’which she had been varmintally subjecked by Kin’. T’other repo’t refers t’a time when an intoxicated Kin’ thrett uped > t’leap fum the 13th flore eff’n th’ woomin’d not say she loved him, dawgone it. It was Kin’‘s seleckin’ two top Communist Party > officials–Chattanooga Levinson an’ Hunter Pitts O’Dell–as his closess advizzus, an’ his other communist cornneckshuns thet c’d > not be igno’ed, which prompped Atto’ney Juneral Billy Bob Kennedy t’o’der FBah wiretappin’ of Kin’‘s home, his SCLC > haidquarters, an’ hotels thet he frequented in 10 cities … The files quote Kin’ as tellyng Levinson: “ah’s a Marxist.” Perhaps eff’n > Bakker an’ Swaggart became Marxists, they too c’d become heroes in our public skoo system, dawgone it. Th’ 1/20/92 MLK Day > pareede in Atlanta was led by Winnie Man’ela (a Communist indicked fo’ murder), Patricia Irelan’ (th’ lesbian leader of NOW), > Sen, as enny fool kin plainly see. Ted Kennedy (noto’ious drunkard an’ woominizer), an’ Rep. Barney Ole Man Frank (sodomite > politician). Whuffo’ is this hyar man hono’ed at all, no less than a public holiday in his name? Besides Jedt, he’s th’ only man wif his > name in a public holiday. ---
**Author:** ![Yue\_Han](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/eada6e/32.png) [@Yue\_Han](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yue_Han)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/26 "2000-01-15T05:21:00Z")
In the interest of fairness, I’d like to point out that I don’t believe this is Captain Ed. Captain Ed is a sad, pathetic man who’s mind cannot grow beyond what he was taught and feels the need to insist on its rightness in the face of facts and logic. Despite these failings, he doesn’t seem like the sort of scum-sucking weasel to post under multiple names- or one so anonymous. He is also capable of spelling the word racist. This, IMHO, is a whole new slime, drawn out by our battle with the Captain. –John ---
**Author:** ![Pariah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/41988e/32.png) [@Pariah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pariah)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/27 "2000-01-15T05:23:00Z")
And here’s the actual _thought_ involved in the recent diarrhea of 'Rascist Scumbag’s creative bowels: > [@](#): > > --------------------------heheh, thatssa gud wun-------------funy-------------ohohoh i’m gud------------------huh?--------------k i dunno wutthat meenz so i better get em-------------snort-----------belch--------barharhar---------fffrt------------kew kew kew---------uh----------------mmmf-------- (There’s more. There’s ALWAYS more.) And here’s the impression he’s made on this reader: > [@](#): > > What a pitiful misguided individual. And what a waste of creativity. And how could he possibly hope to fool anyone? Now I know why he hides behind his pseudonyms. I genuinely feel sorry for you. In the way I feel sorry for a scorpion that stings itself to death, or the way a blind dog will continually walk in circles. If that’s what you want, you got it. Congratulations. ---
**Author:** ![BlockHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aca169/32.png) [@BlockHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlockHead)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/28 "2000-01-15T07:05:00Z")
Slap mah fro? LOL! I laughed my ass off at this one. I couldn’t read the whole thing, but it was funny. Hey, at least the guy admits in his name what he is. You have to admire honesty even if he is a pinhead. Me, I admire comedy even if it is at the expense of someone else. But then again I laugh at some of the stupid things I’ve done too. I have to tell you peole that those of you that respond to people like RS and then bitch about him being on the board are just as guilty as he is of stirring things up. If what he says really bothers you then don’t respond to him. IMO you’re just as bad as he because he only started the fire, YOU added the fuel. ---
**Author:** ![RobRoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ba0ec/32.png) [@RobRoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobRoy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/29 "2000-01-15T07:44:00Z")
“What the hell is your problem with Vets you petty insignificant little dung beatle’s shitball? You should kissing the very ground they walk on” When the feds - who bribed them with cash to kill brown people “legally” to defend oil interests and sell more arms - pays for their medical bills for agent orange, post-traumatic stress disorder and their resulting substance abuse… I might. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/30 "2000-01-15T12:15:00Z")
You Nigga’s sure are a touchy bunch. Your hero was a stinking Commie, and none of you can refute this, so as far as I’m concerned, you are as bad as he was. Why make a national hero with his own holiday out of this scumbag? Why did the fools puty a 50 year freeze on this bastards files? ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/31 "2000-01-15T14:36:00Z")
> [@](#): > > You Nigga’s sure are a touchy bunch. Dangit, does this mean I have to remember to check a different box on forms now? * * * Well, shut my mouth. It’s also illegal to put squirrels down your pants for the purposes of gambling. ---
**Author:** ![WallyM7](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5e925/32.png) [@WallyM7](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WallyM7)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/32 "2000-01-15T16:43:00Z")
Why us? Why this board? And why so often? This is the Straight Dope. We fight ignorance. Scumbag, you are an ignorant stupid motherfucker. Go shit on some other board. Asshole. * * * A seminar on time travel will be held two weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/33 "2000-01-15T16:53:00Z")
R.S., it’s sad enough that you’re filling the SDMB with crap. What’s even sadder is that it isn’t even **your** crap. [http://rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Letter/v2n1-2.htm](http://rapidnet.com/~jbeard/bdm/Letter/v2n1-2.htm) If you’re going to claim to be superior, learn to spell and come up with some original thoughts. The more you post, the more you disprove your point. ---
**Author:** ![LongHrn99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e4f/32.png) [@LongHrn99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LongHrn99)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/34 "2000-01-15T17:00:00Z")
You know, Ignorant Assssshole, I don’t recall you providing any **proof** that he was a Communist. I remember you making some moronic, childish statements about him just because you don’t like him, but that’s not proof. And please, he was a fucking ORDAINED **SOUTHERN** BAPTIST MINISTER. I don’t think he could have ignored the virgin birth and a physical resurrection of Christ, the latter is, _gasp_ the CRUX OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. Maybe if you’d pull your measly little dick out of your ear at church (if you go) you might realize this. Stop being an ignorant fuckwad, and stop talking about a great man like he’s a child (which you obviously are). * * * “I hear the mermaids singing, each to each. I do not think that they will sing to me.” -T.S. Eliot ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2000, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/35 "2000-01-16T06:54:00Z")
**Pariah** said: > [@](#): > > What’s a “Rascist?” Obviously you’re not a pro ‘rasslin’ fan. It’s a fan of “German” grappler “Baron von Raschke.” ---
**Author:** ![brooklyn44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/51bf81/32.png) [@brooklyn44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brooklyn44)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/36 "2000-01-15T19:47:00Z")
And what’s so bad about being a communist (with a lower-case c)? It’s a good thing to be, but King wasn’t. King was a practitioner of Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violent confrontation. The Marxist doctrine provides for the overthrow of oppressive capitalistic regines. King was a Nobel Peace Prize-winner. ---
**Author:** ![RobRoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7ba0ec/32.png) [@RobRoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobRoy)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2000, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/37 "2000-01-15T20:39:00Z")
The source of the claim that MLK was a communist was a FAG (I can use this word I am one - plus this is for dramatic effect), J. E. Hoover. You can’t trust fags who are blackmailing the world to be reliable sources… ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2000, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/38 "2000-01-16T01:02:00Z")
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MLK!!! It’s obvious there’s still a lot of work to be done… ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2000, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/39 "2000-01-16T02:29:00Z")
**RobRoy** : > [@](#): > > The source of the claim that MLK was a communist was a FAG Now do you have a **reliable** source for this? I’ll admit that Hoover and Tolson had a very queer relationship, and in this day and time, they would be considered gay–but David Halberstam said that he did not believe that the relationship was ever really consummated. ---
**Author:** ![TVeblen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4bbf92/32.png) [@TVeblen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TVeblen)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2000, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926/40 "2000-01-16T04:37:00Z")
Oh, please. This weenie isn’t worth it. He crawls out of the dark like a cockroach, low and boasting nothing more than primeval synapses: fear, eat, flee light. Martin Luther King needs no defense. He was a human; a flawed, seeking, aspiring human. Perfect? Nah. We (humans) cheated outselves of real nobility and tolerance when we started demanding perfection of historical figures. Reality check: look at yourself, right now, with no mercy and no context. Perfect, are ya? Do you _really, really_ want that standard applied to you? No quarter, no understanding, no slack for human frailties? Then don’t judge the dead. MLK was a tremendously brave _human being_ who muddled his way through, loved his family, stood up when it counted, and was derided as a “wimp” for rejecting hate and violence and dreamed of something better. Anyone who mocks or belittles his life and goals had best look in the mirror. What exactly do you stand for and what have you achieved? “Truth is the daughter of time”–and time is a damned hard judge. MLK was wasn’t perfect. And you are? But hey, bigot: in the end, decency and love win. He lived his life under fire but still came through standing for something. Until you can match his life and achievement, shut your polluted, whining, self-pitying mouth. Don’t you _ever_ think the dead don’t live. As long as free thinking, fair and strong people live, MLK and all still live. Step up or shut up. Don’t like what MLK did and achieved? Then quit our puling and whining. Make your own mark. But keep firmly in mind exactly what lasts–and should last. MLK–rest in the peace you assuredly earned. Veb [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dr-martin-luther-king-jr/3926.md?page=3)