Beck distorts King's legacy while blaming Sharpton for having "perverted" it
In another attempt to co-opt the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr., Glenn Beck attacked Al Sharpton for "telling people that Martin Luther King's dream was really about redistribution of wealth." In fact, Sharpton accurately reflected the sentiments of King, who advocated for the "radical redistribution of economic power."
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Beck suggests Sharpton has "perverted" King's legacy
Beck: The civil rights movement "has been perverted and distorted" by people "like the Reverend Al Sharpton." On the July 16 edition of his Fox News show, Beck claimed that "the movement of the 1960s has been perverted and distorted" by people "like the Reverend Al Sharpton telling people that Martin Luther King's dream was really about redistribution of wealth." Beck aired a video clip of Sharpton, who stated that the "dream was to make everything equal in everybody's house." Beck responded by saying, "I don't remember that. Really?"
King advocated for the "radical redistribution of economic power"
King: "We are dealing with issues that cannot be solved without the nation ... undergoing a radical redistribution of economic power." In his book, Judgment Days: Lyndon Baines Johnson, Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Laws That Changed America, author Nick Kotz writes that during a 1968 trip to Mississippi, King stated: "It didn't cost the nation one penny to integrate lunch counters" and "[i]t didn't cost the nation one penny to guarantee the right to vote." However, he concluded that "now, we are dealing with issues that cannot be solved without the nation spending billions of dollars -- and undergoing a radical redistribution of economic power."
Sharpton's comments accurately reflect King's sentiments
Sharpton: "The dream was to make everything equal in everybody's house." The video of Sharpton that Beck aired was from a May 2 address Sharpton gave at the New Hope Baptist Church in Danbury, Connecticut. In the speech, Sharpton stated that "the dream was not to put one black family in the White House. The dream was to make everything equal in everybody's house." From Sharpton's May 2 speech: (around 11:50 -- text from the portion Beck aired in bold):
SHARPTON: What bothered me then as I came -- I flew in from Washington -- and came straight to the church and was talking to the Reverend Pitts about right here in Connecticut. We're still faced with such social problems and social inequalities where the achievement gap in the schools is still so high between those that are making it and those that are not. And where you have 20 percent of the population in Connecticut black, but 70 percent of the folks in jail are black. I'm talking about in 2010.
So many of us that act as though the struggle for social justice and the struggle for right is over don't realize that the struggle is not over until we achieve equality. Someone was saying to me the other day, "Reverend Sharpton, we've got an African-American president; we've achieved the dream of Dr. King." And I told him that was not Dr. King's dream. It's a great thing. I've been working with the president and supporting the president, but the dream was not to put one black family in the White House. The dream was to make everything equal in everybody's house. President Obama being in the White House can help us get there, but we're not there yet.
This is only Beck's latest attempt to co-opt King's legacy and the civil rights movement
Beck has frequently used civil rights movement for his own political agenda. Beck routinely uses both the civil rights movement and its rhetoric to advance his own political agenda. Among numerous other examples:
- Beck claimed his followers "are the inheritors and the protectors of the civil rights movement." During the May 24 edition of his radio program, after playing the same Sharpton clip, Beck said:
BECK: That is not the dream. That is a perversion of the dream. We are the people of the civil rights movement. We are the ones that must stand for civil and equal rights -- equal rights, justice, equal justice. Not special justice, not social justice, but equal justice. We are the inheritors and the protectors of the civil rights movement. They are perverting it. They're perverting it, and they're doing it intentionally.
- Beck claimed his August 28 rally will "reclaim the civil rights movement." During the May 26 edition of his radio show, Beck said of his August 28 rally:
BECK: This is a moment, quite honestly, that I think we reclaim the civil rights movement. It has been so distorted and so turned upside down. It is -- it's an abomination what has happened.
Do you have the Bertha Lewis audio? Bertha Lewis was arrested yesterday -- Bertha Lewis, ACORN, New York -- she was arrested at an anti-Arizona rally and they were locked in arms, singing "We Shall Overcome." How dare you?
[...]
BECK: I tell you right now: We are on the right side of history. We are on the side of individual freedoms and liberties, and damn it, we will reclaim the civil rights moment! We will take that movement, because we were the people that did it in the first place.
- Beck: "I wouldn't be surprised if in our lifetime dogs and fire hoses are released or opened on us." During the April 9 edition of his radio program, Beck said:
BECK: The majority of people are not looking for fundamental transformation of America. But there are going to be boxes created. There are going to be the boxes created of the violent, just like there were the William Ayers; of the crazies, just like there were the dope-smoking hippies; and then the real reformers, the people like Martin Luther King.
We must put ourselves on that path and be unmovable. I have to tell you, I wouldn't be surprised if in our lifetime dogs and fire hoses are released or opened on us. I wouldn't be surprised if a few of us get a billy club to the head. I wouldn't be surprised if, you know, some of us go to jail, just like Martin Luther King did, on trumped-up charges.
Unlike the Beck, who has promoted stupidity and ignorance regarding race (and every other issue) relentlessly, to appeal to his fans.
It would be interesting to poll how many African Americans and other minorities are watchers of the Beck.
Same goes for Jesse Jackson. An amazing public speaker, but a media whore to the highest degree.
HOWEVER...
I'll admit that I can't possibly know how much of my positive impressions of Dr.King (who was assasinated five years before I was born after all) comes from the myth than the man (kind of like the Right and Reagan?) and likewise, how many of my negative impressions of Sharpton and Jackson come from their detractors, and the media, who are quick to portray them in exactly the way I percieve them. In every case the truth is probably somewhere in between, but it would be fascinating to see how Dr. King would percieve the world we're living today.
So much (all?) of the open, legally madated, institutional racism that he fought against is gone. But it's been replaced by a more subtle, insideous, envious form of racism. (The kind that assumes that any minotrity (or woman) who achieves any kind of success, got it undeservedly through some kind of affirmative action, which screwed over some more qualified white guy, for example.) And indeed, with the election of Obama, there's no doubt it HAS become a bit more open and a bit less subtle!
But it would be interesting to see how (of even IF) his rhetoric would be different from that of Jackson and Sharpton, or even if he would still be considered relevant.
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In any case, he'd definitely not have too much good to say about a jackass like Beck.
Beck doesn't remember that because he wasn't even born yet!
(born February 10, 1964)
Whether he's trying to be serious or not, Beck is seriously confused. He simultaneously professes to be a Christian, a Mormon, and a devotee of Ayn Rand. Rand, a fiction writer, created the philosophy of Objectivism. Many, including former followers of Rand, say that Objectivism is a cult. Rand was a Christian-hating atheist whose philosophy identified individualism as the highest moral duty of each person. If you weren't one of the gifted, an innovator, you were a "leech" or parasite, according to Rand. A sexual libertine who was strongly pro-abortion, Rand is a person whom the average Beck listener would probably not choose to follow. The contradictions between Christianity and Randism are glaring, and it would be interesting to hear Beck attempt to resolve the contradictions. As Rand wrote: "Contradictions do not exist. Whenever you think you are facing a contradiction, check your premises. You will find that one of them is wrong." I would like to know what Beck's premises really are.
Another area in which Beck is confused is his recent attacks on Christians and Christian churches which believe in "social justice." This includes Roman Catholicism and most mainline Protestant denominations. It appears from transcripts of Beck's shows that he has confused the doctrine of "social justice" with the "social gospel" doctrine. Social justice merely teaches that Christians should work for a just society. It does not conflict with evangelicalism or Roman Catholicism and, in fact, is taught by most churches. The social gospel, on the other hand, was espoused around the turn of the Nineteenth Century by some theologians who taught that the primary work of the Church was to bring about a just society (as opposed to preaching the gospel of Christ and baptizing new Christians). It's influence waned over the course of the Nineteenth Century, although it has never died out.
Reading the transcripts of Beck's rants against "social justice," one is left to wonder if Beck believes it is God's will to have "social injustice."
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." -- Martin Luther King Jr.
Why does he think they are in jail? Could it be they put themselves there, oh right its the white man holding him down. This excuse for blaming everyone else for their laziness and lack of moral character is really past old. Take responsibility for yourself. It's called pride and character.
While I’m at it let me put the truth to another lie that Beck and the right like to tell. Beck and some on the right would have us believe that It was the republiCONs that championed the civil rights act. Well, they may have called themselves Republicans, but the bigger truth is that the republicans that were for the civil rights act were mostly liberal thinking northerners. Those that opposed were the same radical right wing southern racists that control the GOP and the Tea Party today.
Glenn Beck and the righties can claim they were on the right side of history all the want to, but the absolute fact is that It’s pure bull.
Just the kind of response anyone would expect from a bleeding heart Obamacon.
http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=4113
Again, thanks for the link.
Put yourself to the test: use Beck's WORDS against Obama's WORDS and take only literal meanings from what they say. Don't read into what they say...just listen to what they say. There's a rather stark contrast between the two. One is constantly lying, which is evidenced by his own words. The other is constantly using the actual words of people to simply bring them out into the open...exposing them for what they really are. My guess is you'll be unable to even begin this "test" let alone accomplish it without cheating.
Somebody should collect a piece of garbage named Glen Beck and throw him on the trash heap.
Funny how MMFA's article doesn't mention having Alveda King, and Stephen Browden nad what they had to say.
Ain't going to study war no more!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b80Bsw0UG-U&feature=related
The speech is 22:49 in lenght but surely one who is genuinely interested in getting to the truth and not just throwing BS would take the time to listen. Let me highlight some spots for you:
4:22--He speaks about the poor and the poverty program and war cont. to 6:43
6:43 He begins speaking of the inequality of those fighting on the frontlines and the inequality here at home
8:00-- Listen to who and why he calls America the greatest Purveyor of violence in the World
11:00-1154---Who we were supporting in Viet Nam(see any similarities today?) and land reform(rotwoh theirs that redistrubution thing agsin)
12:45---- *****This is really important and goes to the heart of his speech. In this section MLK calls for a Radical Revolution of Values. Listen very closely (This is the part that clearly shows Alveda King is full bunk) listen to what he says about colonialism and neo-colonialsim around 13:45
15:00 Listen to what he says about the priorities of a government that spends more on the military than social programs.
If you need more proof I direct you to the speech MLK gave to the Sanitation workers in Memphis in support of their strike,the next day he was murdered. You must remember he was there to support the striking sanitation workers ? Heres a question for you : Can you tell me why the sanitation workers were striking? Why would King support it and how is that not fighting for social justice? Why do you support a person like Beck who lies and distorts history to further his own desire for money and fame?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBDgH435oaU&NR=1
***A person who doesn't like researching the real facts about any subject and would prefer that someone explain everything he/she needs to know to him/her because thinking for one's self is just too hard (I had many students who were like this)
***Someone who has a serious cognitive dissonance problem and even when presented with facts, refuses to change because he/she finds it too painful to face the reality of a situation
***Someone who looks up to their betters and thinks that if one is rich/famous/handsome/beautiful, this is all that is required to cast one's lot with him/her
None of these talking heads on their favorite non-news channel cares about them, except to relieve them of their cold, hard cash by hosting a rally, selling/promoting a new book, or giving a speech, almost all of which never comes without a price attached.
For years now, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King and his associates have been deliberately undermining the foundations of internal order in this country. With their rabble-rousing demagoguery, they have been cracking the "cake of custom" that holds us together. With their doctrine of "civil disobedience," they have been teaching hundreds of thousands of Negroes - particularly the adolescents and the children - that it is perfectly alright to break the law and defy constituted authority if you are a Negro-with-a-grievance; in protest against injustice. --- Will Herberg, National Review, Sept. 1965
Thinking that one/few African Americans' opinions reflect, or can influence, millions of other African Americans is very short-sighted. You may revere Glenda and the rest of the non-news crew, but to many African Americans, their opinions are held in the same low regard as those of King and Browden.
Its hard to take seriously people who prefer fantasy to reality. I for one find it incredible that a media attack hack like Glenn Beck has somehow discovered that MLK was really a conservative like him. Wow! How did we all miss this? Even people that new MLK and saw MLK speak missed this.
GROW UP!!! It is infantile to say the least to assume that because someone does not agree with you, that automatically makes their position extreme. It is a dishonest and lazy mind that finds the straw man every time in order to avoid the confusion of the real world.
I am so sorry to inform you that wealth redistribution is a fact of life and most of the time it goes from the less wealthy to the more wealthy. People like MLK saw distributing wealth to the less fortunate as an investment and as a way to correct an unjust dysfunctional economic system. Yes, soak that in - MLK saw economic injustice as a serious problem. Now according to libertarian conservatives, the only form of economic injustice is taxation. This works for them because their extreme ideology demands it.
Fighting for equal stuff in everyone's house is a straw man. Maybe Mao and Stalin wanted this. Its too bad the fine details of reality elude so many conservatives. Newsflash: Stalinism and Maoism are not the same as a progressive taxation, community investment and social safety nets.
Wealth does not just come from individual efforts. There is a societal support system and social and natural capital that underpins wealth accumulation. Conservatives want us to forget all that in order to make wealth redistribution to the already wealthy look virtuous.
I think this is a point that needs to be reiterated. We are currently (and have been historically) involved in a system the "redistributes wealth". As pointed out by eb that usually means taking money from the masses and giving it to a small percentage of the population.
Anyone who thinks a poor black kid has the same opportunities as an upper middle class kid is delusional.
...these are not the droids you are looking for...
Why don't you use the original words of the man and not an interpretation that suits your point?
Don't expect an answer to that one.
Nice try, though.
I don't actually know much about his economic thinking. Do you have more than just this one quote? Can you recommend something I could read to learn more about the matter?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b80Bsw0UG-U&feature=related
www.lewrockwell.com/archives/fm/02-91.html
Myths of Martin Luther King Jr.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig/epstein9.html
http://www.thenation.com/article/dr-martin-luther-kings-economics-through-jobs-freedom
And the first thing were going to do is throw out all the damned Mexicans!!!
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How can people really be THIS stupid?