Wednesday, January 19, 2022

Speaking of MLK

I was shown this:


The quotes in question are here:


First, could Deacon Greydanus point me to a recent time in which he's referenced whites as an ethnic group in a non-negative, non-pejorative, non-judgmental way?  I'm not thinking of any, though I don't follow everything he writes.  If he can't, then that, good deacon, is racism.  Even if it's against your own race. 

Anyway, speaking of racism, notice the lead in to the series of quotes.  Us white folks don't ever talk about these quotes because, well, us white folks. So let's unpack them. 

First quote?  I've seen that before.  I can't account for the skin color of those who have quoted it, but I'll assume there's a chance some of them are white. I am, and I've seen it more than once over the years. So nope, that one is known and quoted. 

Second quote? Oh yeah.  I 've seen that many, many times.  Usually it's quoted in the context of "the only thing necessary for evil" discussions.  I've seen it recently, quoted by conservatives watching the modern assault on democracy and freedom and life.  So sorry, that's a common one. 

Third quote? Nope, you got me there.  That's the first time I've heard of the hellhound quote.  So there's one.  Not sure if it's because of white people being white, but haven't heard it until now.  Or if I did read it, it didn't stick.

Fourth quote?  I've heard this one, but not often.  But it's not white people being white.  It's those who have tried to make MLK into the peace loving non-violent love child who Jesus should have been.  Like Attenborough's Gandhi, he was the man who was never about violence.  Violence, after all, was never, ever the answer (pre-2020 America).  And if mister peace, love and John Lennon songs himself was advocating riots (which are essentially using or threatening violence, assaults, destruction and even terror for a cause), this quote doesn't help.  Hence why I've heard it, but not often (until recently, especially after 2020, I should add)

Last quote?  Yeah, I've heard it.  Not often, since 1) it seems to touch on economics, and 2) it could be seen as a somewhat pro-not-Capitalist private ownership quote.  Given the charge that MLK was a communist agent by some detractors back in the day, I can see this one not flying.  Truth be told, I probably heard it more on leftwing Catholic sites than anywhere.

So that's that.  Most of those listed are quoted, even by white people who spend most of their days being white.  With the exception of hellhound discrimination, if I haven't heard much of them, there is a reason.  And it isn't because of whites being uncomfortable as much as the quotes being avoided by those trying to present MLK in a prepackaged image of convenience.  

So there you go.  FWIW, aside from a few conservatives and conservative outlets I know, there is one quote that was conspicuously absent yesterday in all the news and social media outlets I saw:



I wonder why. That, to me, is the interesting omission.  It also helps to answer this question:


My third oldest son has an observation that I adore.  If you think you would have been one of the brave heroes of history standing up to the evils of the age, there's a 95% chance you're wrong.  Would I have marched?  Probably not.  I'm not doing much to stop what's happening now.  

But if you embrace the modern racism, the racism against whites, the judging of a 12 year old girl as having privilege because of her skin color no matter her station in life, then there is a 99.99% chance you wouldn't have marched.  In fact, there's an overwhelming chance you would have unleashed the fire hoses if you had the chance. 

6 comments:

  1. You're quite patients with Deacon Greydanus. Some of us might be inclined to tell him to shove an M-80 up his ass.

    And here are my answers:


    1. Blacks in America are not oppressed by anything but elements of the human condition. There is no oppressor to whom to address demands. In certain respects, blacks are neglected. Gliberals and leftoids have no interest in addressing those problems, and, in fact, favor measures which will make the condition of the black population worse The only people who do favor addressing them are from a strand of the starboard typified by Rudolph Giuliani and Heather MacDonald.

    2. Look in the mirror, Deacon Greydanus. That's you.

    3. The significance of discrimination in real time as an influence on the condition of the black population was overstated 60 years ago and is of scant consequence today. For over 50 years, there has been official discrimination in favor of the Anointed's mascot groups in defiance of black-letter law. This has distorted and disfigured the operation of the civil service and the public colleges, now distorts and disfigures the military, and distorts and disfigures every private enterprise who adopts diversity dogma out of social ideology or to ward off lawfare artists. Even were there no official favoritism, anti-discrimination law applied to all but a select few among private actors does injury to freedom of contract and should be eschewed for that reason. It's the camel's nose under the tent for allowing lawyers to second-guess everyone else's discretionary decisions.

    4. This was false in 1967 and is false today. A riot is the language of the criminal class, of the opportunistic and unscrupulous people in any loci, and the stupid and ill-supervised teenagers in any loci. The injury it does is most severely felt by property owners in sketchy neighborhoods, and by residents therein who are served by business so injured.

    5. Property rights adhere to individuals, families, and (now and again) agglomerations like corporations. You cannot 'give human rights priority over property rights' because property rights are human rights. Our property constitutes all the means to our ends.


    By the way, Deacon Greydanus is a bad man.

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    Replies
    1. That's because I remember him from saner times. Some Catholics who went over the edge weren't hard to believe. Though I never cared for his post-modern approach to film reviews, I thought him a good person who debated in good faith and who rejected many of the ludicrous arguments he now embraces.

      But #4 is interesting. As I told Nate, I'm shocked to see so many MLK references since 2020 focusing on the acceptable use of violence. MLK was always Mr. non-Violence when I was growing up.

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  2. "A riot is the language of the unheard."

    So let's talk about January 6th then, Steven...

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    Replies
    1. Ouch. 911 we have a burn. Yes, I have a feeling they don't mean *that* riot, just those riots over there. Then again, I've been shocked at how many MLK I've heard since 2020 where it looks like the icon of non-violence was prepared to endorse a bit of the ultra-violence when needed. Funny how he looks so different now from what he looked like growing up. But then, so does liberalism.

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  3. What about this anti-illigal immigration quotes?

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    Replies
    1. Apparently, if the latest "Real MLK" wouldn't look good, chances are we won't hear about it.

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