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King Would Have Likely Rejected His Own Memorial By Boyce Watkins
As a people, I argue that too few of us possess the passionate desire to fight the tough battles necessary to see Dr. King's dream come to fruition. No differently from those who attend church every Sunday vs. those who do the hard work to live a good Christian life, America gives us a license to embrace rampant hypocrisy. America has not taken very many steps to fulfill the dreams of Dr. King and in some ways, we are worse off than we were when he was alive. It is for this reason that I question our decision to celebrate the building of a group of granite statues paid for by those who continue to treat black people as second-class citizens. It is because of my concern for this hypocrisy that I've chose to stay home on the day that the Dr. King Memorial was dedicated. I am not sure if Dr. King would have attended this ceremony himself if he were alive today. I speculate that instead, he have spent the week protesting on Wall Street, fighting for labor rights or battling the epidemic of mass incarceration. Here are a few questions I think Dr. King might ask about this memorial if he were alive today: Dr. King Question #1: Is there anything better we could do with that $120 million dollars, given that 40 percent of all black children are in poverty? The MLK memorial is going to cost a cool $120 million. That's enough to pay $10,000 on the mortgages of 12,000 Americans who've lost their homes from foreclosure and predatory lending, enough to buy a meal for 24 million hungry children, or enough to pay the salaries of 2,400 inner city school teachers who've lost their jobs due to budget cuts. I've always been impressed with Dr. King because he seemed to work to embrace the spirit of Jesus, another revolutionary who was rarely welcome into anyone's fancy church. Although not a perfect man, Dr. King fought for the poor, stood up for children, and did what was right without concern for the consequences. If Jesus were walking the earth today, he wouldn't want us to build another temple or statue in his honor. Instead, he might ask us to stay home and do God's work instead. While Dr. King is certainly not Jesus Christ, he is a man with enough integrity that I believe he would reject this corporate memorial in the same way that he would not accept a BET Award being presented by Lil Wayne. Like those men who are conditioned to have sex with any beautiful woman who offers it, some of us are also tempted to accept awards and honors from anyone who gives us a little money and fame. Being honored in this way is good for the ego, but not so good for the soul. So, there are some situations where it might be best to just walk away. Dr. King Question #2: Why is Walmart on the list of major donors for the monument, in spite of the fact that they are entirely disrespectful of my positions on labor rights? Walmart, who gave a full 10 percent of the funds necessary to build the King Memorial (they actually signed the first letter of credit that opened the door for the monument to be built), has a long list of multi-billion dollar labor and human rights violations that have served to make the company into the economic behemoth that it has become today. They've been connected with numerous sweatshops around the world, their workers are underpaid and not allowed to unionize, and they've been accused of massive amounts of racial and gender discrimination. If Dr. King were alive today, he'd be standing in front of Walmart with a picket sign, not asking them for money to build a statue
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October
26, 2011 - It only makes sense that we show respect for those
who chose to participate in the Martin Luther King Memorial Dedication.
Millions of Americans truly appreciate the legacy of Dr. King,
and their involvement in the ceremony was reflective of this sentiment.
So, my desire not to participate in the commemoration was out
of respect for Dr. King's principles, but with full understanding
of those who choose to disagree.