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Teaching MLK’s Life—The Man, Not the Myth


AUUSN

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When it comes to King and the treatment of social justice in classrooms,textbooks and materials are frequently lacking, with important parts of history sandwiched into commemorative months for racial and ethnic groups—Black History Month and National Hispanic Heritage Month, for example. This and other factors make it nearly impossible for students to grapple with and think critically about King the man, not the myth, says Greg E. Carr, chairman of the Department of Afro-American Studies at Howard University. “King warned us about the threats of racism, materialism, and militarism. This country doesn’t want to hear that,” Carr asserts. Instead, King is presented as a one-dimensional champion of racial unity, he said, and the better part of his words and actions are edited out “to make him fit that surreal representation.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/teaching-mlks-lifethe-man-not-the-myth/424485/





When I was a kid that's pretty much how MLK was portrayed. He was the dead black man who was taking away from the Robert E. Lee's birthday holiday. Of course, Lee was a dead white man I also knew nothing about.

I completely agree with AUUSN's post. MLK's life was about truth and justice and right and wrong. Instead, it is often portrayed as being about promoting blacks. I believe that he would have fought just as hard for any other injustice. At the time, the most important injustice in the U.S. was the inferior treatment of black Americans. Thanks for the article AUUSN!

I'm just waiting for the annual "It's Robert E. Lee's birthday!" thread.

Oh please no. Luckily his birthday is tomorrow so hopefully we'll be spared.

Being observed in Alabama today. My aunt, who is the director of the ABN, is off and has it marked on her calendar as Robert E. Lee/Martin Luther King Birthday.

MLK also backed Margaret Sanger who was a proponent of eugenics and viewed abortion as a way to "weed out the unfit and those who will become dependent". MLK fought and won many noble causes but he wasn't always right and his support of Planned Parenthood is one of those matters he was wrong about. I am certain were he living today he would denounce them if for no other reason the overwhelming majority of abortions of black babies.

Martin Luther King Jr. was no different. He became enamored with the facade ofPlanned Parenthood and its glossy cover of family planning and the false assurance of eliminating poverty. Birth control propagandists, like Margaret Sanger, promised equality. It failed. Instead, the divide that King fought so passionately to mend became a chasm filled with communities ravaged by epidemic levels of abortion, rampant fatherlessness, births to unmarried women, exponentially high STD/HIV rates, and higher poverty rates.

I am grateful, beyond words, for King’s tireless efforts to elevate humanity. His ultimate sacrifice, his very life, reminds me that there are things worth dying for. I know our collective memories of America’s civil rights champions are sacrosanct. But extraordinary people like Martin Luther King Jr. are not omniscient. They were, and are, quite fallible. Little did Martin Luther King Jr. know that his words (or arguably Coretta Scott King’s) in 1966 immortalized in ink and praisingPlanned Parenthood, would literally turn blood red.

Planned Parenthood, the nation’s
number one killer
of African-Americans (more die by abortion than all other causes of death combined), boasts of King’s support at the 1966 inauguration of the Margaret Sanger Award.
Abortion wasn’t legal then
and married heterosexual couples adorned the covers of Planned Parenthood’s printed propaganda. In an
advice column
he wrote for Ebony magazine, from 1957-1958, King recognized the wrong of abortion in a response to a young man who compelled his girlfriend to the crime. He advised, in part: “One can never rectify a mistake until he admits that a mistake has been made.”

“How much did MLK know about this eugenics-birthed organization?” Surely he knew that its founder,
Margaret Sanger
, prided herself in speaking before the KKK on behalf of her organization’s mission. He had to have known she proclaimed in her 1920 book,
“Women and the New Race”
(and throughout her whole life):
“Birth control itself, often denounced as a violation of natural law, is nothing more or less than the facilitation of the process of weeding out the unfit, of preventing the birth of defectives or of those who will become defective.”

Read it all right here:

King, undeniably, was a great American but he wasn't right about everything.

I admire MLK for the way he changed things with peaceful protests and for standing up for the things he believed in. To bad the black community don't have many leaders like him today.

MLK also backed Margaret Sanger who was a proponent of eugenics and viewed abortion as a way to "weed out the unfit and those who will become dependent". MLK fought and won many noble causes but he wasn't always right and his support of Planned Parenthood is one of those matters he was wrong about. I am certain were he living today he would denounce them if for no other reason the overwhelming majority of abortions of black babies.

Martin Luther King Jr. was no different. He became enamored with the facade ofPlanned Parenthood and its glossy cover of family planning and the false assurance of eliminating poverty. Birth control propagandists, like Margaret Sanger, promised equality. It failed. Instead, the divide that King fought so passionately to mend became a chasm filled with communities ravaged by epidemic levels of abortion, rampant fatherlessness, births to unmarried women, exponentially high STD/HIV rates, and higher poverty rates.

I am grateful, beyond words, for King’s tireless efforts to elevate humanity. His ultimate sacrifice, his very life, reminds me that there are things worth dying for. I know our collective memories of America’s civil rights champions are sacrosanct. But extraordinary people like Martin Luther King Jr. are not omniscient. They were, and are, quite fallible. Little did Martin Luther King Jr. know that his words (or arguably Coretta Scott King’s) in 1966 immortalized in ink and praisingPlanned Parenthood, would literally turn blood red.

Planned Parenthood, the nation’s
number one killer
of African-Americans (more die by abortion than all other causes of death combined), boasts of King’s support at the 1966 inauguration of the Margaret Sanger Award.
Abortion wasn’t legal then
and married heterosexual couples adorned the covers of Planned Parenthood’s printed propaganda. In an
advice column
he wrote for Ebony magazine, from 1957-1958, King recognized the wrong of abortion in a response to a young man who compelled his girlfriend to the crime. He advised, in part: “One can never rectify a mistake until he admits that a mistake has been made.”

“How much did MLK know about this eugenics-birthed organization?” Surely he knew that its founder,
Margaret Sanger
, prided herself in speaking before the KKK on behalf of her organization’s mission. He had to have known she proclaimed in her 1920 book,
“Women and the New Race”
(and throughout her whole life):
“Birth control itself, often denounced as a violation of natural law, is nothing more or less than the facilitation of the process of weeding out the unfit, of preventing the birth of defectives or of those who will become defective.”

Read it all right here:

King, undeniably, was a great American but he wasn't right about everything.

On cue

BTW, the author, Ryan Bomberger, of the link I posted above about Planned Parenthood has a unique story. His mother was victim of a rape and decided to carry the pregnancy full term and that is why he is alive. He was adopted and raised in a multi-racial christian family.

Interesting story..read it here:

http://www.theradiancefoundation.org/ryan/

Too bad there aren't ANY leaders like him today in any community

Agreed. In my biased opinion, anyone like him today would be DESTROYED by the media and by all sides as being either a right wing religious zealot or as a socialist wanting everyone to live off the government teat. He probably would not have many supporters, because serving others doesn't involve nearly enough self-promotion.

MLK also backed Margaret Sanger who was a proponent of eugenics and viewed abortion as a way to "weed out the unfit and those who will become dependent". MLK fought and won many noble causes but he wasn't always right and his support of Planned Parenthood is one of those matters he was wrong about. I am certain were he living today he would denounce them if for no other reason the overwhelming majority of abortions of black babies.

Martin Luther King Jr. was no different. He became enamored with the facade ofPlanned Parenthood and its glossy cover of family planning and the false assurance of eliminating poverty. Birth control propagandists, like Margaret Sanger, promised equality. It failed. Instead, the divide that King fought so passionately to mend became a chasm filled with communities ravaged by epidemic levels of abortion, rampant fatherlessness, births to unmarried women, exponentially high STD/HIV rates, and higher poverty rates.

I am grateful, beyond words, for King’s tireless efforts to elevate humanity. His ultimate sacrifice, his very life, reminds me that there are things worth dying for. I know our collective memories of America’s civil rights champions are sacrosanct. But extraordinary people like Martin Luther King Jr. are not omniscient. They were, and are, quite fallible. Little did Martin Luther King Jr. know that his words (or arguably Coretta Scott King’s) in 1966 immortalized in ink and praisingPlanned Parenthood, would literally turn blood red.

Planned Parenthood, the nation’s
number one killer
of African-Americans (more die by abortion than all other causes of death combined), boasts of King’s support at the 1966 inauguration of the Margaret Sanger Award.
Abortion wasn’t legal then
and married heterosexual couples adorned the covers of Planned Parenthood’s printed propaganda. In an
advice column
he wrote for Ebony magazine, from 1957-1958, King recognized the wrong of abortion in a response to a young man who compelled his girlfriend to the crime. He advised, in part: “One can never rectify a mistake until he admits that a mistake has been made.”

“How much did MLK know about this eugenics-birthed organization?” Surely he knew that its founder,
Margaret Sanger
, prided herself in speaking before the KKK on behalf of her organization’s mission. He had to have known she proclaimed in her 1920 book,
“Women and the New Race”
(and throughout her whole life):
“Birth control itself, often denounced as a violation of natural law, is nothing more or less than the facilitation of the process of weeding out the unfit, of preventing the birth of defectives or of those who will become defective.”

Read it all right here:

King, undeniably, was a great American but he wasn't right about everything.

Nobody said he was right about everything. But he genuinely tried to live like we all should try to live. The point of the article is to look at who the man was. Go back and read some of his sermons. He does not come across as someone who is trying to stir up trouble. "His people" were humans, not blacks.

MLK also backed Margaret Sanger who was a proponent of eugenics and viewed abortion as a way to "weed out the unfit and those who will become dependent". MLK fought and won many noble causes but he wasn't always right and his support of Planned Parenthood is one of those matters he was wrong about. I am certain were he living today he would denounce them if for no other reason the overwhelming majority of abortions of black babies.

Martin Luther King Jr. was no different. He became enamored with the facade ofPlanned Parenthood and its glossy cover of family planning and the false assurance of eliminating poverty. Birth control propagandists, like Margaret Sanger, promised equality. It failed. Instead, the divide that King fought so passionately to mend became a chasm filled with communities ravaged by epidemic levels of abortion, rampant fatherlessness, births to unmarried women, exponentially high STD/HIV rates, and higher poverty rates.

I am grateful, beyond words, for King’s tireless efforts to elevate humanity. His ultimate sacrifice, his very life, reminds me that there are things worth dying for. I know our collective memories of America’s civil rights champions are sacrosanct. But extraordinary people like Martin Luther King Jr. are not omniscient. They were, and are, quite fallible. Little did Martin Luther King Jr. know that his words (or arguably Coretta Scott King’s) in 1966 immortalized in ink and praisingPlanned Parenthood, would literally turn blood red.

Planned Parenthood, the nation’s
number one killer
of African-Americans (more die by abortion than all other causes of death combined), boasts of King’s support at the 1966 inauguration of the Margaret Sanger Award.
Abortion wasn’t legal then
and married heterosexual couples adorned the covers of Planned Parenthood’s printed propaganda. In an
advice column
he wrote for Ebony magazine, from 1957-1958, King recognized the wrong of abortion in a response to a young man who compelled his girlfriend to the crime. He advised, in part: “One can never rectify a mistake until he admits that a mistake has been made.”

“How much did MLK know about this eugenics-birthed organization?” Surely he knew that its founder,
Margaret Sanger
, prided herself in speaking before the KKK on behalf of her organization’s mission. He had to have known she proclaimed in her 1920 book,
“Women and the New Race”
(and throughout her whole life):
“Birth control itself, often denounced as a violation of natural law, is nothing more or less than the facilitation of the process of weeding out the unfit, of preventing the birth of defectives or of those who will become defective.”

Read it all right here:

King, undeniably, was a great American but he wasn't right about everything.

Nobody said he was right about everything. But he genuinely tried to live like we all should try to live. The point of the article is to look at who the man was. Go back and read some of his sermons. He does not come across as someone who is trying to stir up trouble. "His people" were humans, not blacks.

I was simply pointing out that I seriously doubt he would still be backing Planned Parenthood were he living today...thats all.

I'm just waiting for the annual "It's Robert E. Lee's birthday!" thread.

Oh please no. Luckily his birthday is tomorrow so hopefully we'll be spared.

Being observed in Alabama today. My aunt, who is the director of the ABN, is off and has it marked on her calendar as Robert E. Lee/Martin Luther King Birthday.

My uncle posted something about it on FB. He's on the bammer side of the family.

MLK also backed Margaret Sanger who was a proponent of eugenics and viewed abortion as a way to "weed out the unfit and those who will become dependent". MLK fought and won many noble causes but he wasn't always right and his support of Planned Parenthood is one of those matters he was wrong about. I am certain were he living today he would denounce them if for no other reason the overwhelming majority of abortions of black babies.

Martin Luther King Jr. was no different. He became enamored with the facade ofPlanned Parenthood and its glossy cover of family planning and the false assurance of eliminating poverty. Birth control propagandists, like Margaret Sanger, promised equality. It failed. Instead, the divide that King fought so passionately to mend became a chasm filled with communities ravaged by epidemic levels of abortion, rampant fatherlessness, births to unmarried women, exponentially high STD/HIV rates, and higher poverty rates.

I am grateful, beyond words, for King’s tireless efforts to elevate humanity. His ultimate sacrifice, his very life, reminds me that there are things worth dying for. I know our collective memories of America’s civil rights champions are sacrosanct. But extraordinary people like Martin Luther King Jr. are not omniscient. They were, and are, quite fallible. Little did Martin Luther King Jr. know that his words (or arguably Coretta Scott King’s) in 1966 immortalized in ink and praisingPlanned Parenthood, would literally turn blood red.

Planned Parenthood, the nation’s
number one killer
of African-Americans (more die by abortion than all other causes of death combined), boasts of King’s support at the 1966 inauguration of the Margaret Sanger Award.
Abortion wasn’t legal then
and married heterosexual couples adorned the covers of Planned Parenthood’s printed propaganda. In an
advice column
he wrote for Ebony magazine, from 1957-1958, King recognized the wrong of abortion in a response to a young man who compelled his girlfriend to the crime. He advised, in part: “One can never rectify a mistake until he admits that a mistake has been made.”

“How much did MLK know about this eugenics-birthed organization?” Surely he knew that its founder,
Margaret Sanger
, prided herself in speaking before the KKK on behalf of her organization’s mission. He had to have known she proclaimed in her 1920 book,
“Women and the New Race”
(and throughout her whole life):
“Birth control itself, often denounced as a violation of natural law, is nothing more or less than the facilitation of the process of weeding out the unfit, of preventing the birth of defectives or of those who will become defective.”

Read it all right here:

King, undeniably, was a great American but he wasn't right about everything.

Oh good grief. It figures you would bring Townhall Planned Parenthood article to a MLK thread.

It doesn't surprise me that the MLK image is dominated by the myth. Myth is extremely important to us, for better or for worse.

But that's what historians are for. To give us the complete perspective behind the dominating myth.

I admire MLK for the way he changed things with peaceful protests and for standing up for the things he believed in. To bad the black community don't have many leaders like him today.

"To bad the black community don't have many leaders like him today." :-\

I admire MLK for the way he changed things with peaceful protests and for standing up for the things he believed in. To bad the black community don't have many leaders like him today.

"To bad the black community don't have many leaders like him today." :-\/>

Does that mean that you disagree?

I admire MLK for the way he changed things with peaceful protests and for standing up for the things he believed in. To bad the black community don't have many leaders like him today.

"To bad the black community don't have many leaders like him today." :-\/>

Does that mean that you disagree?

What do you think my point was?

I admire MLK for the way he changed things with peaceful protests and for standing up for the things he believed in. To bad the black community don't have many leaders like him today.

"To bad the black community don't have many leaders like him today." :-\/>

Does that mean that you disagree?

What do you think my point was?

I think that you were trying to focus on a potential negative aspect of what he said. You could have chosen to focus on the more positive side, but didn't. Since you could not take a jab at the TRUTH of the post, you made a vague post hoping that others would see PT in a bad light. (or you could have been bashing the grammar) Anyway, it IS too bad that the world does not have many leaders like him today.

I admire MLK for the way he changed things with peaceful protests and for standing up for the things he believed in. To bad the black community don't have many leaders like him today.

"To bad the black community don't have many leaders like him today." :-\/>

Does that mean that you disagree?

What do you think my point was?

I think that you were trying to focus on a potential negative aspect of what he said. You could have chosen to focus on the more positive side, but didn't. Since you could not take a jab at the TRUTH of the post, you made a vague post hoping that others would see PT in a bad light. (or you could have been bashing the grammar) Anyway, it IS too bad that the world does not have many leaders like him today.

Thank you Grumps. It was definitely intended to be positive. Some people here seem to only look for the negatives in life.

This is the norm for high schools everywhere I've been.

Every single topic is sped through, important topics are skipped or cut down to the point the students don't fully grasp them.

You could seriously make the exact same argument with every important historical figure.

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