More on King

On the 23rd, I wrote a post about the siege of Gaza, Dr. King and social justice movements generally. Tonight, I read an article on Counterpunch titled "Restoring the Anti-War King." It's a good article, and the author includes excerpts from a speech King made in 1967, "Why I am Opposed to the War in Vietnam."

Here is King comparing the reaction of the media to his views on racism at home versus racism abroad:

On The "Noble" Media: "Been a lot of applauding over the last few years. They applauded our total movement; they've applauded me. America and most of its newspapers applauded me in Montgomery. And I stood before thousands of Negroes getting ready to riot when my home was bombed and said, we can't do it this way. They applauded us in the sit-in movement­we non-violently decided to sit in at lunch counters. The applauded us on the Freedom Rides when we accepted blows without retaliation. They praised us in Albany and Birmingham and Selma, Alabama. Oh, the press was so noble in its applause, and so noble in its praise when I was saying, Be non-violent toward Bull Connor; when I was saying, Be non-violent toward [Selma, Alabama segregationist sheriff] Jim Clark. There's something strangely inconsistent about a nation and a press that will praise you when you say, Be non-violent toward Jim Clark, but will curse and damn you when you say, "Be non-violent toward little brown Vietnamese children. There's something wrong with that press!"