[continued from previous message]   
      
   more adequate housing. Each of these developments will result in   
   a further weakening of segregation."   
      
   King of course was a great opponent of the free economy. In a   
   speech in front of his staff in 1966 he said,   
      
   You can't talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro   
   without talking about billions of dollars. You can't talk about   
   ending the slums without first saying profit must be taken out   
   of slums. You're really tampering and getting on dangerous   
   ground because you are messing with folk then. You are messing   
   with captains of industry… Now this means that we are treading   
   in difficult water, because it really means that we are saying   
   that something is wrong…with capitalism… There must be a better   
   distribution of wealth and maybe America must move toward a   
   Democratic Socialism.   
      
   King called for "totally restructuring the system" in a way that   
   was not capitalist or "the antithesis of communist." For more   
   information on King's economic views, see Lew Rockwell's The   
   Economics of Martin Luther King, Jr.   
      
   Myth # 6: King was a conservative.   
      
   As all the previous myths show, King's views were hardly   
   conservative. If this was not enough, it is worth noting what   
   King said about the two most prominent postwar American   
   conservative politicians, Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater.   
      
   King accused Barry Goldwater of "Hitlerism." He believed that   
   Goldwater advocated a "narrow nationalism, a crippling   
   isolationism, and a trigger-happy attitude." On domestic issues   
   he felt that "Mr. Goldwater represented an unrealistic   
   conservatism that was totally out of touch with the realities of   
   the twentieth century." King said that Goldwater's positions on   
   civil rights were "morally indefensible and socially suicidal."   
      
   King said of Reagan, "When a Hollywood performer, lacking   
   distinction even as an actor, can become a leading war hawk   
   candidate for the presidency, only the irrationalities induced   
   by war psychosis can explain such a turn of events."   
      
   Despite King's harsh criticisms of those men, both supported the   
   King holiday. Goldwater even fought to keep King's FBI files,   
   which contained information about his adulterous sex life and   
   Communist connections, sealed.   
      
   Myth # 7: King wasn't a plagiarist.   
      
   OK, even most of the neocons won't deny this, but it is still   
   worth bringing up, because they all ignore it. King started   
   plagiarizing as an undergraduate. When Boston University founded   
   a commission to look into it, they found that that 45 percent of   
   the first part and 21 percent of the second part of his   
   dissertation was stolen, but they insisted that "no thought   
   should be given to revocation of Dr. King's doctoral degree." In   
   addition to his dissertation many of his major speeches, such as   
   "I Have a Dream," were plagiarized, as were many of his books   
   and writings. For more information on King's plagiarism, The   
   Martin Luther King Plagiarism Page and Theodore Pappas'   
   Plagiarism and the Culture War are excellent resources.   
      
   When faced with these facts, most of King's conservative and   
   libertarian fans either say they weren't part of his main   
   philosophy, or usually they simply ignore them. Slightly before   
   the King Holiday was signed into law, Governor Meldrim Thompson   
   of New Hampshire wrote a letter to Ronald Reagan expressing   
   concerns about King's morality and Communist connections. Ronald   
   Reagan responded, "I have the reservations you have, but here   
   the perception of too many people is based on an image, not   
   reality. Indeed, to them the perception is reality.”   
      
   Far too many on the Right are worshipping that perception.   
   Rather than face the truth about King's views, they create a man   
   based upon a few lines about judging men "by the content of   
   their character rather than the color of their skin" – something   
   we are not supposed to do in his case, of course – while   
   ignoring everything else he said and did. If King is truly an   
   admirable figure, they are doing his legacy a disservice by   
   using his name to promote an agenda he clearly would not have   
   supported.   
      
   January 18, 2003   
      
   Marcus Epstein [send him mail] is an undergraduate at the   
   College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, VA, where he is   
   president of the college libertarians and editor of the   
   conservative newspaper, The Remnant. A selection of his articles   
   can be seen here.   
      
   http://www.lewrockwell.com/2003/01/marcus-epstein/myths-of-   
   martin-luther-king/   
                
      
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)