January 21, 2023 • 25 mins
Today we look back on last week's holiday for Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and cite several examples of conservative hypocrisy. Many on the right use bits and pieces of Dr. King's legacy and quotes to gain clout and give the appearance of brother/sisterhood when, in fact their policies stand in direct contrast to what Dr. King stood for.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host,
Ramsy's job. He is h I am q Ward. You
are tuned into Civic Cipher, Yes, and we got a
lot for you to stick around for. We had an
interesting Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior holiday, and we
realized that a lot of people really don't know the
(00:27):
man that we, to be fair, had to had to
come to know and study, and this version of him
that has been whitewashed and romanticized is in some ways
(00:47):
a far cry from the actual man that lived. This
guy was prolific, and you know, he's almost it's almost
like he's reduced every holiday to just his I have
a dream speech and a couple the choice quotes that
really they've kind of put him in a category with
Santa Claus right right, and that's not really fair. So
we're going to take some time and really flesh out
(01:09):
a little bit more of Doctor King what he stood for.
And we're going to do that a little later in
the show by reading his letter from a Birmingham Jail,
which is a really profound letter. We can't read it all,
but certainly want to share some parts of it with you.
And give you a little bit more depth on the
man that was Doctor King and all that he stood for. Also,
(01:29):
we're going to take some time and point out the
hypocrisy found most prominently in the GOP in this country
when it comes to Doctor King's holiday, where again they
take little bits and pieces of his life and kind
(01:51):
of throw a quote up here and there for cloud,
But they in no way stand for anything that Doctor
King stood for. So it's up to us to point
that out and to teach what we know. But first
and foremost, we're gonna start off on a high, as
we do, with some ebony excellence. Q Shall we we shall?
This week's any Excellence sponsored by Hip Hop Weekly Media
and brought to you or this The source material rather
(02:12):
is NPR dot Org. Shout out to NPR. I'm always
gonna love those guys. Anyway, we are going to pay
particular attention to Black Panther Wakanda Forever. This is our
example of ebony excellence this week because the movie not
only did it do well in the box office, but
it's done well critically and it actually earned twelve NAACP
(02:37):
Image Awards nominations. With The Woman King and Abbot Elementary,
also earning top nominations. But the sequel, which is where
the Marvel film delved into the concept of Wakanda's grief
in the wake of the death of T'Challa, a character
(02:58):
played by Chad with Boseman who died in twenty twenty,
went on to create so much of a cultural impact
and so much of a cultural moment, obviously bringing stars
like Angela Bassett to the forefront as well as you know,
(03:20):
many other people that worked on the film like behind
the scenes. And then of course we can't say enough
about the director, Ryan Coopler. But the fact is is
that you know, in all all the nominees have conveyed
a wide range of authentic stories and diverse experiences that
have resonated with many in the black community. And this
(03:41):
comes from Derek Johnson, the President and CEO of the NAACP,
and he says, we're proud to recognize their outstanding achievements
and performances, but you know, leading the way, of course,
Wakanda Forever Black Panther with twelve NAACP Image Awards is
just a remarkable fee and definitely have any excellence. Now
(04:02):
hopefully they get a bunch of wins. That's what we're hoping. Now.
How did you spend your m okay holiday? Q? At work? Yeah, well,
I happen to know that you didn't just work, unfortunately,
you did have to work. I get that, but we
also had to work in this space as we do
(04:24):
and kind of share a little bit more stories and
give a little bit more insight. And I don't think
we can call what we did after work work not
this time, well it was. It was kind of in
the same spirit as work, but that was a little
bit more fun. Admittedly, we got a chance to sit
down and interview with a good friend of ours, but
we definitely did fellowship in the name of doctor King
(04:45):
and for that reason on that day. But also one
of the things that we did, you know, with the
time off, you know whatever, you get a chance to
kind of check in with social media, you get a
chance to tap in with people you haven't heard from
an while. And of course, you know, with Q and
I working in this space, you know, folks think of us,
(05:06):
you know, being in the space where we're trying to
kind of create a more equitable world along racial lines,
and you know, for some of our friends and people
that were connected with we're top of mind, and so
things get sent our way. I want to take a
moment and shout out and instagram handle live Love, Sorry,
(05:27):
Live Love, Liberate. She's a good friend of mine and
a good friend of the show, and she managed to
compile a bunch of stuff that really illustrates the delusion
that has found its way in recent years to right
(05:52):
wing social media platforms, certainly right wing political platforms, and
in no way represent the reality of what doctor King
stood for. And it feels a little bit insulting that
(06:12):
they would take Doctor King's words stand on them, at
least in a digital space, saying that this was a
great man and these things that he said were so profound,
and we're glad that the country has reached this level,
and so forth and so on, and then the other
three hundred and sixty four days of the year actively
(06:34):
work against what not only what he would wrote in
his letters and has given his sermons, but even in
the I have a dream speech which is in and
of itself picked apart and used oftentimes out of context
by these folks. And it's up to us to kind
(06:55):
of set the record straight, you know, the hypocrisy we do.
I thank you hypocrisy. We point out a lot of
hypocrisy and in all you know, political arenas, but not
enough can be said about the extreme hypocrisy that we
find in you know, conservative circles. It's it's the strangest thing.
(07:19):
It's they're so it's like it's like watching crazy people,
but there's so many crazy people sharing the delusion that
you can't convince them that they're crazy. Right, But I
will read to you exactly what made its way to us,
and we'll discuss and you can see, you know, and
(07:40):
decide for yourself if in fact this is crazy, this
is a delusion. So let's start one of the things.
And this was just a meme that was sent along
that I thought was kind of important, uh, for us,
you know, getting into this subject matter right now. The
meme was a child holding a poster and the poster says,
(08:02):
stop using MLK as an example of a peaceful protest.
You shot him too, I was heavy, right, Yeah? Right?
Is this there's nothing you can do that's good enough? Right?
And and we're gonna get a little bit more into
that when we get into the letter from a Birmingham
ham jail for our way Black history factor. But yeah,
(08:26):
you know, doctor King was certainly one of those people
that had to push back against folks you know of
the cloth, you know, ministers and pastors and preachers pushing
back on him, telling him that he should not protest
in a non violent way. Right. And bear in mind
(08:47):
that his approval rating again was twenty percent when he
was alive. Twenty percent. Now everybody looks back and go
doctor King, you know, but when he was alive, eighty
percent of the people disapproved of him, his methods, what
he stood for, his face, whatever. You know, people just
didn't like him. And that's something that this country loves
(09:09):
to forget. I don't forget that, all right. First up,
Rand Paul. Okay, so Rand Paul is, you know, again
a conservative politician. Rand Paul quoting doctor King on anything
is laughable. Isn't that crazy? So here's a a It
(09:33):
looks like a tweet from Rand Paul. It says, as
we honor MLK today, may his courage inspire us to
redouble our commitment to working together for change. Let's commemorate
the life of doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. By uniting
the two Americas into one. In America that includes just
dot dot dot. Okay, so this is, you know, the
(09:55):
tweet as you get the idea, to get the gist
of it. And then in the screencap that was sent
to me, there's an article and the headline says how
Ran Paul blocked the Immit till Anti lynching bill while
the nation more on George Floyd. So this man talking
(10:17):
about commemorating the life of doctor King, uniting the two
Americas and so forth and so on. It feels like,
you know, what it takes to unite the two Americas
is to recognize that the two Americas have different views,
have different concerns, and different realities. Right, this is something
that I'm sure every politician can understand. But when you
(10:42):
fail to account for one of those facets, one of
those elements, halps, it seems less like I want to
work together and more like I want to seize more
power and subject you to my reality. Who in the
world and I need you to be okay with that? Right?
(11:04):
Thank you? Who in the world would block the Immit
till Anti lynching bill while the nation was mourning George Floyd?
I mean, we don't even need the second part. Who
would block an anti lynching bill period. And see it's
it's these things that feel so hurtful, and it's like
everybody's just ignores this and keeps voting for these guys.
(11:28):
And that's I don't go ahead. I think you are
providing too much grace.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, go ahead, because I do not think that all
the people that this men are ignoring that them that's
why they're voting.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
For sure, I'll give you that. But so if that
is true, then why pull a quote and post it
on your social media, ran Paul?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Because even racist, bigoted, despicable people don't want you to
think that of them. Crazy racist people don't even like
being called racist while doing racist things.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Hey, when you're right, you're right man. But you know
the craziest part about this is that it feels like
there's like, to a person like me, why would you
quote doctor King? Why why not quote you know, Roberty Lee,
(12:27):
you know, or one of your like real heroes, you know,
people that would also be opposed to the imit till
anti lynching bill. Right, since this, you know, your voting
record shows me where your values are. Why not, you know,
quote a person like that? Why even celebrate doctor King's Day?
And it feels like they want to get some of
(12:47):
that Doctor King clout. Now that they've whitewashed the legacy,
they want to cash in on it. Right, So I
think that what you're saying is absolutely right, just adding
a couple of layers are a little bit more seasoning
to it. But yeah, man, this is this is the
strangest thing. I've never seen anything like it. All right,
let's go on, Ron DeSantis, there's another name. He's the
(13:13):
guy from is that governor indeed Florida Governor rond de Santis.
So suffice it to say, he just you know, copied
a you know, a meme or screen, you know, a
photo of doctor King standing next to a cutout of
his I have a dream speech right, the text right,
(13:34):
and then above the photo he put happy MLK Day
with an exclamation point, and that, you know, the cutout
is the you know, I have a dream that one
day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and every mountain, shell,
et cetera. Blah blah blah. Right, And the person that
(13:58):
grabbed this entire scream, grab and send it over to me,
responded to Ronda Santis, saying, pretty close to that horrible crt,
like that that's that's Black history right there. You sure
that's what you want to do. And for those that
don't know, this guy, Rondasantis has been perhaps the biggest
(14:22):
and most vocal opponent of CRT or in fact, American history,
teaching American history in schools right based off of nothing,
based off of some imaginary boogeyman, kids are going to
be sad and not you know, love the country and
feel bad about themselves or whatever, which in my estimation
(14:43):
is complete and utter nonsense. It feels very unfair, and
it feels like another whitewashing of history, and it's dangerous.
But it's particularly hurtful when this person, who does not
want us as a country to look back, certainly doesn't
(15:04):
want our children to look back, will readily pool from
black history when it keeps him slightly i mean, in
terms of the optics, looking slightly less racist than he
absolutely is, absolutely is right. And again, these are things
(15:25):
that you need to know. Not everybody that you know
quotes the Bible, is you know, going to heaven? You know,
I'm sure there's some sort of even a believer. Sure
there's some sort of anecdote that I've heard growing up.
I come from a Christian tradition in my house, and
so there are these little things that we passed around
(15:45):
back and forth. But you know, the same seems to
be true here with the in the political arena with
respect to doctor King. Here's a funny one. The actual
at GOP social media handle, which is I'm assuming the
handle for the entirety of the political party known as
(16:06):
Republicans in this country. They're just they just put a
post that says happy Martin Luther King Day. And this
is just sort of funny because the person also responded
with a clip clippy the clip art and it says, hi,
it looks like you're quoting doctor Martin Luther King Junior
to try to hide the fact that you give comfort
(16:27):
to racist Would you like some help logging out forever?
That's awesome? Yeah, man, it's crazy, but you know that
one doesn't have as much you know, teeth in it
in it from a journalistic standpoint, but it's just sort
of something that's a little bit funny. Let's go to
Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz has has a post that and
(16:52):
we know we realized this was from last weekend, but
we had to talk about this because if we don't
point out this these hypocrisies, then you may associate these
backwards political leaders on the right with an actual American
(17:14):
hero who probably would be more left than everybody that
even I know, and I'm way over there on the
left man, But you know, Ted Cruz, he put a
post that says, today we honor the life and legacy
of doctor Martin Luther King Junior. Pretty standard. And then
there's like a photo of doctor King, you know, everything
(17:36):
like that. And then there's a picture of him interrogating
or interviewing whatever you want to call it, Judge Katanji
Brown Jackson, and he's holding up the children's book. You
remember that scene on the floor of the children's book
was like basically an educational book for children about race
(18:00):
and so forth. And so again, doctor King was certainly
about educating, certainly about together in his fellowship. So forth,
we need to understand each other, we need to support
each other, help each other. And then Ted Cruz, almost
everything that he's done in this space has been If
(18:23):
doctor King were still alive, Ted Cruz would, based on
his track record, would stand in opposition to almost everything
Doctor King stood everything, And so again, just pulling a
little bit of political. They reworked the image of Doctor
King because he wasn't Malcolm X. It reworked him, made
him a little bit more, you know, a friendly like
(18:45):
you said, made him into basically Santa Claus, and then
took him for themselves. And it feels like, wait, you know,
and we've seen this happen with music we're rock and
roll with, you know, We've seen it happen time and
again with all bits and of our culture. It's taken
from us, it's whitewashed and repackaged, you know, for a
white audience. But to see this happen with Doctor King,
(19:07):
someone who in many ways is a moral guidepost for
not just black people, but for this entire country, to
have his legacy and his story be co opted, his
words be co opted and used in these circles where
the source of the hatred that we're dealing with, the
source of the conflicts. I mean, we can't figure this
gun stuff out. We can't figure none of this stuff out.
(19:29):
And often enough, it's those people on that side of
the aisle that are standing in the way, and as
you mentioned, very intentionally out loud, not hiding it. They
wide open and then all of a sudden, Doctor King's
Holiday comes around and everybody's like, oh yeah, Kumbaya, and
then the day after they get right back to it.
All right, let me let me continue. Here's another name,
(19:50):
you know. Mitch McConnell, uh says, today we honor an
American hero, the Reverend doctor Martin Luther King Junior. His
dream of equal justice and the abundant opportunity inspired our
nation to make historic progress and continue to make us
better to this day. And this quote was superimposed this
(20:11):
quote that he This tweet rather for Mitch McConnell is packaged,
as it was sent to me, was packaged with a
photo of Mitch McConnell receiving an award standing in front
of a gigantic Confederate flag, and he's old as dirt,
so these basically the same age as he is now.
So clearly this person wants the image of Doctor King.
(20:37):
But Doctor King was really about, you know, togetherness, and
Mitch McConnell just uses words, but you know, standing in
front of that flag, you'd be hard and pressed to
make a case that that's what you're really on.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
It's like they've gone out of their way to make
Doctor King benign Yeah, toothless soft, a word that you
often used to remind people that you aren't. So they
want him to be perceived that way. So it's not
(21:08):
just whitewashing but making him harmless. Right, in many ways,
it can't be perceived that he was at one point
opposed to and by the government.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah right.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
So now that his reproval rating is one hundred and
the most romanticized parts of the dream sweech, because I
have a dream speech in and of itself, it's not
even all kumbaya, but patch that way very intentionally to
take out this really really sweet, really really warm part,
make it very very hallmark, make him very very animated,
(21:47):
make him very very much a character. Right, And like
I said, of a nine harmless, toothless, warm, soft character
when he was at his core, the opposite of all
of that, and more selflessly for us probably than anyone. Ever,
(22:07):
how about that, like his his his rap sheet with
regards to the causes that helped us, long and impenetrable,
that that part of his legacy cannot be tarnished or
questioned for real willing to sacrifice at all as he
(22:32):
ultimately did for all of us and not just skinfolk.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Yeah, yeah, and this is another thing that we need
to share with you. You know, for those who don't know,
when doctor King was assassinated, it was because he had
gone to Tennessee to work with poor people. You know,
he was trying to get you know, workers rights, labor rights,
you know, fair compensation, et cetera. Issues that were still
(23:00):
dealing with in this country today. Issues that you know,
the Republican Party would stand opposed to, as they have
done for the past couple of years. And you know,
once he turned that corner, you know, once it wasn't
about hey, can we use the same bathroom or drink
(23:20):
from the same water fountain or sit at the same
lunch counter. Once it was like once it was like, hey,
you're coming after you know, our war, coming after you know,
our money, or you know, creating cohesion between poor people
and poor whites and poor blacks. You know, then it
became okay, well, this is this guy has got too
much power. Once his approval ratings started to tick upward
(23:43):
because he's now reaching into new communities and identifying commonalities,
then it becomes more problematic. So you know, this list
goes on Lauren Bobert and whoever else the rest of
these people are more of the same. The details, but
I do want to leave you with this. Here's a
(24:03):
tweet from Bernice King, which is doctor King's daughter. She says,
if you're going to quote and authentically honor my father
on MLK Day, commit to embracing a world house perspective,
determine how you'll disrupt unjust systems and thinking with non
violent strategy, which that was doctor King. That was what
(24:27):
he was about, nonviolence, and that's what they took. They
preferred him to Stokelye and to you know, uh uh
Malcolm Malcolm and James Baldwin everyone else. Doctor King was
a minister and you know, anyway, I'll continue support policies
that reflect higher consciousness and make no excuses for hate.
(24:51):
So this comes directly from his daughter. This is what
you need to do on doctor King's birthday, and unfortunately
we have not seen that from our conservative branch.
Welcome to another episode of Civic Cipher. I'm your host,
Ramsy's job. He is h I am q Ward. You
are tuned into Civic Cipher, Yes, and we got a
lot for you to stick around for. We had an
interesting Reverend Doctor Martin Luther King Junior holiday, and we
realized that a lot of people really don't know the
(00:27):
man that we, to be fair, had to had to
come to know and study, and this version of him
that has been whitewashed and romanticized is in some ways
(00:47):
a far cry from the actual man that lived. This
guy was prolific, and you know, he's almost it's almost
like he's reduced every holiday to just his I have
a dream speech and a couple the choice quotes that
really they've kind of put him in a category with
Santa Claus right right, and that's not really fair. So
we're going to take some time and really flesh out
(01:09):
a little bit more of Doctor King what he stood for.
And we're going to do that a little later in
the show by reading his letter from a Birmingham Jail,
which is a really profound letter. We can't read it all,
but certainly want to share some parts of it with you.
And give you a little bit more depth on the
man that was Doctor King and all that he stood for. Also,
(01:29):
we're going to take some time and point out the
hypocrisy found most prominently in the GOP in this country
when it comes to Doctor King's holiday, where again they
take little bits and pieces of his life and kind
(01:51):
of throw a quote up here and there for cloud,
But they in no way stand for anything that Doctor
King stood for. So it's up to us to point
that out and to teach what we know. But first
and foremost, we're gonna start off on a high, as
we do, with some ebony excellence. Q Shall we we shall?
This week's any Excellence sponsored by Hip Hop Weekly Media
and brought to you or this The source material rather
(02:12):
is NPR dot Org. Shout out to NPR. I'm always
gonna love those guys. Anyway, we are going to pay
particular attention to Black Panther Wakanda Forever. This is our
example of ebony excellence this week because the movie not
only did it do well in the box office, but
it's done well critically and it actually earned twelve NAACP
(02:37):
Image Awards nominations. With The Woman King and Abbot Elementary,
also earning top nominations. But the sequel, which is where
the Marvel film delved into the concept of Wakanda's grief
in the wake of the death of T'Challa, a character
(02:58):
played by Chad with Boseman who died in twenty twenty,
went on to create so much of a cultural impact
and so much of a cultural moment, obviously bringing stars
like Angela Bassett to the forefront as well as you know,
(03:20):
many other people that worked on the film like behind
the scenes. And then of course we can't say enough
about the director, Ryan Coopler. But the fact is is
that you know, in all all the nominees have conveyed
a wide range of authentic stories and diverse experiences that
have resonated with many in the black community. And this
(03:41):
comes from Derek Johnson, the President and CEO of the NAACP,
and he says, we're proud to recognize their outstanding achievements
and performances, but you know, leading the way, of course,
Wakanda Forever Black Panther with twelve NAACP Image Awards is
just a remarkable fee and definitely have any excellence. Now
(04:02):
hopefully they get a bunch of wins. That's what we're hoping. Now.
How did you spend your m okay holiday? Q? At work? Yeah, well,
I happen to know that you didn't just work, unfortunately,
you did have to work. I get that, but we
also had to work in this space as we do
(04:24):
and kind of share a little bit more stories and
give a little bit more insight. And I don't think
we can call what we did after work work not
this time, well it was. It was kind of in
the same spirit as work, but that was a little
bit more fun. Admittedly, we got a chance to sit
down and interview with a good friend of ours, but
we definitely did fellowship in the name of doctor King
(04:45):
and for that reason on that day. But also one
of the things that we did, you know, with the
time off, you know whatever, you get a chance to
kind of check in with social media, you get a
chance to tap in with people you haven't heard from
an while. And of course, you know, with Q and
I working in this space, you know, folks think of us,
(05:06):
you know, being in the space where we're trying to
kind of create a more equitable world along racial lines,
and you know, for some of our friends and people
that were connected with we're top of mind, and so
things get sent our way. I want to take a
moment and shout out and instagram handle live Love, Sorry,
(05:27):
Live Love, Liberate. She's a good friend of mine and
a good friend of the show, and she managed to
compile a bunch of stuff that really illustrates the delusion
that has found its way in recent years to right
(05:52):
wing social media platforms, certainly right wing political platforms, and
in no way represent the reality of what doctor King
stood for. And it feels a little bit insulting that
(06:12):
they would take Doctor King's words stand on them, at
least in a digital space, saying that this was a
great man and these things that he said were so profound,
and we're glad that the country has reached this level,
and so forth and so on, and then the other
three hundred and sixty four days of the year actively
(06:34):
work against what not only what he would wrote in
his letters and has given his sermons, but even in
the I have a dream speech which is in and
of itself picked apart and used oftentimes out of context
by these folks. And it's up to us to kind
(06:55):
of set the record straight, you know, the hypocrisy we do.
I thank you hypocrisy. We point out a lot of
hypocrisy and in all you know, political arenas, but not
enough can be said about the extreme hypocrisy that we
find in you know, conservative circles. It's it's the strangest thing.
(07:19):
It's they're so it's like it's like watching crazy people,
but there's so many crazy people sharing the delusion that
you can't convince them that they're crazy. Right, But I
will read to you exactly what made its way to us,
and we'll discuss and you can see, you know, and
(07:40):
decide for yourself if in fact this is crazy, this
is a delusion. So let's start one of the things.
And this was just a meme that was sent along
that I thought was kind of important, uh, for us,
you know, getting into this subject matter right now. The
meme was a child holding a poster and the poster says,
(08:02):
stop using MLK as an example of a peaceful protest.
You shot him too, I was heavy, right, Yeah? Right?
Is this there's nothing you can do that's good enough? Right?
And and we're gonna get a little bit more into
that when we get into the letter from a Birmingham
ham jail for our way Black history factor. But yeah,
(08:26):
you know, doctor King was certainly one of those people
that had to push back against folks you know of
the cloth, you know, ministers and pastors and preachers pushing
back on him, telling him that he should not protest
in a non violent way. Right. And bear in mind
(08:47):
that his approval rating again was twenty percent when he
was alive. Twenty percent. Now everybody looks back and go
doctor King, you know, but when he was alive, eighty
percent of the people disapproved of him, his methods, what
he stood for, his face, whatever. You know, people just
didn't like him. And that's something that this country loves
(09:09):
to forget. I don't forget that, all right. First up,
Rand Paul. Okay, so Rand Paul is, you know, again
a conservative politician. Rand Paul quoting doctor King on anything
is laughable. Isn't that crazy? So here's a a It
(09:33):
looks like a tweet from Rand Paul. It says, as
we honor MLK today, may his courage inspire us to
redouble our commitment to working together for change. Let's commemorate
the life of doctor Martin Luther King, Jr. By uniting
the two Americas into one. In America that includes just
dot dot dot. Okay, so this is, you know, the
(09:55):
tweet as you get the idea, to get the gist
of it. And then in the screencap that was sent
to me, there's an article and the headline says how
Ran Paul blocked the Immit till Anti lynching bill while
the nation more on George Floyd. So this man talking
(10:17):
about commemorating the life of doctor King, uniting the two
Americas and so forth and so on. It feels like,
you know, what it takes to unite the two Americas
is to recognize that the two Americas have different views,
have different concerns, and different realities. Right, this is something
that I'm sure every politician can understand. But when you
(10:42):
fail to account for one of those facets, one of
those elements, halps, it seems less like I want to
work together and more like I want to seize more
power and subject you to my reality. Who in the
world and I need you to be okay with that? Right?
(11:04):
Thank you? Who in the world would block the Immit
till Anti lynching bill while the nation was mourning George Floyd?
I mean, we don't even need the second part. Who
would block an anti lynching bill period. And see it's
it's these things that feel so hurtful, and it's like
everybody's just ignores this and keeps voting for these guys.
(11:28):
And that's I don't go ahead. I think you are
providing too much grace.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Yeah, go ahead, because I do not think that all
the people that this men are ignoring that them that's
why they're voting.
Speaker 1 (11:43):
For sure, I'll give you that. But so if that
is true, then why pull a quote and post it
on your social media, ran Paul?
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Because even racist, bigoted, despicable people don't want you to
think that of them. Crazy racist people don't even like
being called racist while doing racist things.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Hey, when you're right, you're right man. But you know
the craziest part about this is that it feels like
there's like, to a person like me, why would you
quote doctor King? Why why not quote you know, Roberty Lee,
(12:27):
you know, or one of your like real heroes, you know,
people that would also be opposed to the imit till
anti lynching bill. Right, since this, you know, your voting
record shows me where your values are. Why not, you know,
quote a person like that? Why even celebrate doctor King's Day?
And it feels like they want to get some of
(12:47):
that Doctor King clout. Now that they've whitewashed the legacy,
they want to cash in on it. Right, So I
think that what you're saying is absolutely right, just adding
a couple of layers are a little bit more seasoning
to it. But yeah, man, this is this is the
strangest thing. I've never seen anything like it. All right,
let's go on, Ron DeSantis, there's another name. He's the
(13:13):
guy from is that governor indeed Florida Governor rond de Santis.
So suffice it to say, he just you know, copied
a you know, a meme or screen, you know, a
photo of doctor King standing next to a cutout of
his I have a dream speech right, the text right,
(13:34):
and then above the photo he put happy MLK Day
with an exclamation point, and that, you know, the cutout
is the you know, I have a dream that one
day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and every mountain, shell,
et cetera. Blah blah blah. Right, And the person that
(13:58):
grabbed this entire scream, grab and send it over to me,
responded to Ronda Santis, saying, pretty close to that horrible crt,
like that that's that's Black history right there. You sure
that's what you want to do. And for those that
don't know, this guy, Rondasantis has been perhaps the biggest
(14:22):
and most vocal opponent of CRT or in fact, American history,
teaching American history in schools right based off of nothing,
based off of some imaginary boogeyman, kids are going to
be sad and not you know, love the country and
feel bad about themselves or whatever, which in my estimation
(14:43):
is complete and utter nonsense. It feels very unfair, and
it feels like another whitewashing of history, and it's dangerous.
But it's particularly hurtful when this person, who does not
want us as a country to look back, certainly doesn't
(15:04):
want our children to look back, will readily pool from
black history when it keeps him slightly i mean, in
terms of the optics, looking slightly less racist than he
absolutely is, absolutely is right. And again, these are things
(15:25):
that you need to know. Not everybody that you know
quotes the Bible, is you know, going to heaven? You know,
I'm sure there's some sort of even a believer. Sure
there's some sort of anecdote that I've heard growing up.
I come from a Christian tradition in my house, and
so there are these little things that we passed around
(15:45):
back and forth. But you know, the same seems to
be true here with the in the political arena with
respect to doctor King. Here's a funny one. The actual
at GOP social media handle, which is I'm assuming the
handle for the entirety of the political party known as
(16:06):
Republicans in this country. They're just they just put a
post that says happy Martin Luther King Day. And this
is just sort of funny because the person also responded
with a clip clippy the clip art and it says, hi,
it looks like you're quoting doctor Martin Luther King Junior
to try to hide the fact that you give comfort
(16:27):
to racist Would you like some help logging out forever?
That's awesome? Yeah, man, it's crazy, but you know that
one doesn't have as much you know, teeth in it
in it from a journalistic standpoint, but it's just sort
of something that's a little bit funny. Let's go to
Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz has has a post that and
(16:52):
we know we realized this was from last weekend, but
we had to talk about this because if we don't
point out this these hypocrisies, then you may associate these
backwards political leaders on the right with an actual American
(17:14):
hero who probably would be more left than everybody that
even I know, and I'm way over there on the
left man, But you know, Ted Cruz, he put a
post that says, today we honor the life and legacy
of doctor Martin Luther King Junior. Pretty standard. And then
there's like a photo of doctor King, you know, everything
(17:36):
like that. And then there's a picture of him interrogating
or interviewing whatever you want to call it, Judge Katanji
Brown Jackson, and he's holding up the children's book. You
remember that scene on the floor of the children's book
was like basically an educational book for children about race
(18:00):
and so forth. And so again, doctor King was certainly
about educating, certainly about together in his fellowship. So forth,
we need to understand each other, we need to support
each other, help each other. And then Ted Cruz, almost
everything that he's done in this space has been If
(18:23):
doctor King were still alive, Ted Cruz would, based on
his track record, would stand in opposition to almost everything
Doctor King stood everything, And so again, just pulling a
little bit of political. They reworked the image of Doctor
King because he wasn't Malcolm X. It reworked him, made
him a little bit more, you know, a friendly like
(18:45):
you said, made him into basically Santa Claus, and then
took him for themselves. And it feels like, wait, you know,
and we've seen this happen with music we're rock and
roll with, you know, We've seen it happen time and
again with all bits and of our culture. It's taken
from us, it's whitewashed and repackaged, you know, for a
white audience. But to see this happen with Doctor King,
(19:07):
someone who in many ways is a moral guidepost for
not just black people, but for this entire country, to
have his legacy and his story be co opted, his
words be co opted and used in these circles where
the source of the hatred that we're dealing with, the
source of the conflicts. I mean, we can't figure this
gun stuff out. We can't figure none of this stuff out.
(19:29):
And often enough, it's those people on that side of
the aisle that are standing in the way, and as
you mentioned, very intentionally out loud, not hiding it. They
wide open and then all of a sudden, Doctor King's
Holiday comes around and everybody's like, oh yeah, Kumbaya, and
then the day after they get right back to it.
All right, let me let me continue. Here's another name,
(19:50):
you know. Mitch McConnell, uh says, today we honor an
American hero, the Reverend doctor Martin Luther King Junior. His
dream of equal justice and the abundant opportunity inspired our
nation to make historic progress and continue to make us
better to this day. And this quote was superimposed this
(20:11):
quote that he This tweet rather for Mitch McConnell is packaged,
as it was sent to me, was packaged with a
photo of Mitch McConnell receiving an award standing in front
of a gigantic Confederate flag, and he's old as dirt,
so these basically the same age as he is now.
So clearly this person wants the image of Doctor King.
(20:37):
But Doctor King was really about, you know, togetherness, and
Mitch McConnell just uses words, but you know, standing in
front of that flag, you'd be hard and pressed to
make a case that that's what you're really on.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
It's like they've gone out of their way to make
Doctor King benign Yeah, toothless soft, a word that you
often used to remind people that you aren't. So they
want him to be perceived that way. So it's not
(21:08):
just whitewashing but making him harmless. Right, in many ways,
it can't be perceived that he was at one point
opposed to and by the government.
Speaker 1 (21:25):
Yeah right.
Speaker 2 (21:26):
So now that his reproval rating is one hundred and
the most romanticized parts of the dream sweech, because I
have a dream speech in and of itself, it's not
even all kumbaya, but patch that way very intentionally to
take out this really really sweet, really really warm part,
make it very very hallmark, make him very very animated,
(21:47):
make him very very much a character. Right, And like
I said, of a nine harmless, toothless, warm, soft character
when he was at his core, the opposite of all
of that, and more selflessly for us probably than anyone. Ever,
(22:07):
how about that, like his his his rap sheet with
regards to the causes that helped us, long and impenetrable,
that that part of his legacy cannot be tarnished or
questioned for real willing to sacrifice at all as he
(22:32):
ultimately did for all of us and not just skinfolk.
Speaker 1 (22:38):
Yeah, yeah, and this is another thing that we need
to share with you. You know, for those who don't know,
when doctor King was assassinated, it was because he had
gone to Tennessee to work with poor people. You know,
he was trying to get you know, workers rights, labor rights,
you know, fair compensation, et cetera. Issues that were still
(23:00):
dealing with in this country today. Issues that you know,
the Republican Party would stand opposed to, as they have
done for the past couple of years. And you know,
once he turned that corner, you know, once it wasn't
about hey, can we use the same bathroom or drink
(23:20):
from the same water fountain or sit at the same
lunch counter. Once it was like once it was like, hey,
you're coming after you know, our war, coming after you know,
our money, or you know, creating cohesion between poor people
and poor whites and poor blacks. You know, then it
became okay, well, this is this guy has got too
much power. Once his approval ratings started to tick upward
(23:43):
because he's now reaching into new communities and identifying commonalities,
then it becomes more problematic. So you know, this list
goes on Lauren Bobert and whoever else the rest of
these people are more of the same. The details, but
I do want to leave you with this. Here's a
(24:03):
tweet from Bernice King, which is doctor King's daughter. She says,
if you're going to quote and authentically honor my father
on MLK Day, commit to embracing a world house perspective,
determine how you'll disrupt unjust systems and thinking with non
violent strategy, which that was doctor King. That was what
(24:27):
he was about, nonviolence, and that's what they took. They
preferred him to Stokelye and to you know, uh uh
Malcolm Malcolm and James Baldwin everyone else. Doctor King was
a minister and you know, anyway, I'll continue support policies
that reflect higher consciousness and make no excuses for hate.
(24:51):
So this comes directly from his daughter. This is what
you need to do on doctor King's birthday, and unfortunately
we have not seen that from our conservative branch.
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