Patters

Today is the anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, who was shot and killed on April 4, 1968 by James Earl Ray.

Reviled by the right as a Communist, lauded by the right as a Republican, Martin Luther King in my opinion is among the greatest Americans in history. One can see how difficult it is to take on the Rush Limbaughs, the Glen Becks, the Fox News, and the Tea Partiers, but in effect that's what King did in the early 1960s by standing up to the white right wing (and that's a fact). He led a peaceful Civil Rights movement that won support around world and around the United States.

Forging good relations with JFK and LBJ, in many ways he was the one most responsible for passing the momentous Civil Rights Act of 1964. Though that victory caused the Dixiecrats to flock to Reagan after his heartfelt appeal to their racism, the legacy of Civil Rights remains with us today. Our nation truly changed thanks to Civil Rights in ways that have benefited women, gays, Latinos, the disabled, the majority, as well as the arts, food, and entertainment. It's hard to describe how much better our country is today than it was in the Leave it to Beaver era.

DarrylS

Great man, a brilliant orator.. did a lot for this country not only for civil rights, but also for the peace movement.. always indepted for his practice of civil disobedience.. a mentor for sure.

Wonder if they will ever figure out who killed him, or if the James Earl Ray story will stick..

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"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.

Patsfanin Philly

While the nation truly has benefited from the Civil Rights Act, I wonder how much of that was due to sympathy after JFK's assassination, that Congress wanted to fulfill his goal.
Secondly it is a huuuuuuuuge stretch to to link MLK and Reagan. The Dixiecrats flocked to George Wallace in 1968 and he was a leading contender in 1972 before being shot. There was Nixon, Watergate and Vietnam in the 12 years between Dr King's assassination and Reagan's election.

PatriotsReign

MLK was undeniably one of the greatest Americans ever. We should honor his courage, leadership and values.

Too bad you had to ruin your praise by inserting anti-right rhetoric...very sad on your part Patters to use MLK's memory to spout your own bias.

Shame on you!

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"No one walking this earth knows what is truly righteous"

Patters

It was Nixon who started the Republicans' southern strategy, but it was Reagan who really succeeded. Reagan raised race issues from the start of his campaign and directly appealed to the white Dixiecrats. As I've posted many other times, Reagan started his election campaign in Philadelphia, MS (which is where 3 civil rights workers were murdered) and spoke there about states rights, which back then was code for segregation.

Patters

I disagree with you, PR. MLK was a fighter who until his dying day understood that there are right wing elements in this country who would love to take away the equality that he fought for. Even in this forum, there are those who oppose anti-discrimination laws and programs to address the damage that 2 centuries of discrimination left behind. We do not honor his death by forgetting his enemies remain.

PatsFanInVa

The older I get, the more impressive MLK's achievement become... you think about the things he was able to accomplish by his 30s. Amazing. The time for change had come, but who's to say -- given the racism Reagan could still tap into, and that the teabaggers still find motivation in today -- that the voice of the minority as regards minority rights would ever be listened to, without the moral conviction and power of oratory Dr. King exhibited? As King would tell you, he was heavily influenced by Ghandi... who exercised the exact same principle of steadfastly standing in truth (satyagraha), appealing to the basic decency of the "oppressor" himself.

What King did was say "God bless America" in a way that meant something, and America, white and black both, answered "Amen." The changes that came from that are everywhere in America today. There is nowhere that nothing has changed -- there are places where less has been gained from the change, but that's another story.

PFnV

Wolfpack

It's really pathetic how you can't pay tribute to one of our nation's great leaders without turning it into an ultra-partisan left-is-good versus right-is-evil matter.

This post shows you don't have the first clue what Martin Luther King's message was about.

Wolfpack

Aren't you one of those who criticize the "birthers"? I guess nutjob conspiracy theories are perfectly fine for other issues though, huh?

Wolfpack

+1. I made a similar post before reading this but yours is stated much better than mine.