XPost: alt.politics.conservative, alt.politics.democrats, dc.politics   
   XPost: soc.culture.african.american   
   From: rkoch@banmlkday.com   
      
   On the national holiday that celebrates the birth of famed civil   
   rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr., the AP decided to   
   remind us all that there was more to King than the popularized   
   view of him affords. AP says that it is a shame that King has   
   been "frozen in a moment in time that ignores the full   
   complexity of the man and his message." Who can disagree with   
   this? After all, very often notable historical figures end up   
   being turned into cardboard cartoons known for that one "frozen   
   moment" in history that made them famous.   
      
   But, even as the AP argues that we should learn more about the   
   whole of MLK's life and take a more measured look at his life   
   and works, the AP itself whitewashes several aspects of his real   
   life. AP never mentions, for instance, his ties with communists   
   nor do they mention Dr. King plagarized parts of his doctoral   
   thesis. They don't mention his distrust of capitalism nor his   
   support of the concept of special treatment and quotas, an idea   
   that strays from his acclaimed position of "equal" treatment.   
   So, the AP may want us to avoid putting Dr. King "on a pedestal   
   of perfection," but it is also a fact that they only want us to   
   know some of King's real record instead of all of it as they   
   claim.   
      
   The AP has taken the occasion of King's holiday celebration to   
   remind us all that the eeevil government was wary of him toward   
   the end of his life, to tell us that "by taking on issues   
   outside segregation, he had lost the support of many newspapers   
   and magazines, and his relationship with the White House had   
   suffered."   
      
   Yes, it is definitely true that King was not the universally   
   loved character that he has been mythologized as today. And, we   
   really should take the time to learn more about our famous   
   American historical figures, just as the AP advises us to do.   
   So, let's look a bit at some of King's warts to balance the   
   gauzy portrait we are used to seeing.   
      
   Now let us be clear right off the top, here. King's whole record   
   -- even that with which many of us will thoroughly disagree --   
   does not detract from the salient fact that he was a seminal   
   leader in bringing the U.S. out of its racial oppression. His   
   leadership was transformational for shining the light of liberty   
   upon a segment of the country that was held back by ignorant   
   custom and racial hatred. But, just as the AP urges, his whole   
   life's record really should be known so that we can take a full   
   measure of the man.   
      
   Let us start with the fact that Dr. King plagiarized parts of   
   his doctoral dissertation from Boston University. As reported in   
   1991, a Boston University investigation concluded that King had   
   plagiarized much of his dissertation. "King included in his   
   dissertation a good deal of material taken verbatim from a   
   variety of other sources without proper attribution (or any   
   attribution at all), an act which constitutes plagiarism by any   
   reasonable academic standard."   
      
   The University decided not to revoke his degree. After all, his   
   iconic status would have made a target of the school by King's   
   followers and the effort to reveal the truth and take measures   
   that might have been leveled at any other student who had been   
   so fraudulent in their dissertation would be troublesome at   
   best. It was just easier for the university to forget the whole   
   thing.   
      
   Obviously, Boston University wasn't too interested in the AP's   
   advice to celebrate King's "complexity." And who can blame them?   
      
   King was also under surveillance by the FBI because he   
   surrounded himself with known and vocal members of the Communist   
   Party of the US. Several close King associates were openly   
   communists. Stanley Levinson, Jack O’Dell, and Bayard Rustin   
   (who stayed in close communication with Benjamin Davis) were all   
   communists or past party members. King also frequently spoke   
   before the National Lawyers Guild and Lawyers for Democratic   
   Action, both of which were directly and openly tied to the   
   Communist Party. He also attended seminars put on by the   
   Highlander Folk School, another organization with Communist ties.   
      
   I will point out, though, that King himself was never   
   successfully identified as a member of the communist party and   
   he did denounce the Soviets early in his civil rights career, so   
   to say King himself was an outright communist is a step too far   
   to take. However, it is true that his cures for the past ill   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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