Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

                      Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

The other day, on the anniversary of Martin Luther King’s birthday, I was reading a column in The Washington Times by Paul Greenberg which got me thinking how times have changed. I mention the column because I am going to borrow from it generously in this blog. Near the beginning of his article Mr. Greenberg makes this statement, "Martin Luther King, Jr. meets the very definition of an American conservative – someone dedicated to preserving the gains of a liberal revolution." Of course, Greenberg uses the term "liberal" in the classical sense, meaning someone who cherishes freedom and understands the basis upon which a free society is built. This is a far cry from today’s liberals who do everything possible to tear down the foundations of our free society and who would be rejected by the likes of the great classical liberal Edmund Burke, considered by many as the philosophical father of today’s conservative movement.

Indeed, Mr. Greenberg hits the nail on the head and in fact pounds that nail pretty hard. He quotes Dr. King at the Lincoln Memorial, "I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. 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 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."

Greenberg muses on this message rooted in tradition, "No wonder the young black radicals of the 1960s used to deride him as De Lawd. It was a toss-up whether his politics or his religion offended them more; the two were inseparable in his case." He went on, "The legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr. would give way to the frustrations of a Malcolm X, the demagoguery of a Louis Farrakhan, and the general hucksterism of the Al Sharptons and Jesse Jacksons."

Greenberg goes on to point out that whereas Dr. King wanted to unite Americans, multiculturalism seeks to divide us, and to set us apart. Race is now used as a "wedge issue" by liberals to maintain power. Any attempt to portray black Americans as a part of the American melting pot with diverse views, values, and objectives is crushed by the powerful forces of the liberal establishment who see any progress in this direction as a threat to their rule. Ward Connerly, Clarence Thomas, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, J.C. Watts, Doug Wilder, Bill Cosby and scores of other black Americans who share Dr. King’s vision and present alternate solutions to pressing problems are not only ignored, but attacked viciously. They must be crushed in fear that such independent thinking might spread and destroy the myth of radical hegemony in the black community. Dr. King, where are you when America needs your clear thinking most?