Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day Everyone!

[Daelak]

Gotta say it’s really adorable how conservatives are desperately clawing to make MLK into a republican when the guy was a staunch socialist and an anti imperialist.

“But no guys! He was a republican because...
because..

BUHCUZ...

Lol, observing conservatives for years now, I can confidently say, they are the only group of human beings that can reach that level of delusion. MLK was about to publicly speak about mobilizing the movement towards getting slave reparations paid by the federal government to the black communities.

[Elba]

Irrelevant. Identity politics itself keeps racism and sexism going.

No, we were making great strides against racism and the far right were dying off. It wasn’t until this nonsense became mainstream that the far right made a resurgence.

MLK on the theory that somehow advocating for equal rights turns people into white nationalists

[Zelk]

Republicans are really trying to claim a socialist as one of their own are they?

[W]e are saying that something is wrong ... with capitalism.... There must be better distribution of wealth and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism. Call it what you may, call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all of God’s children.

Very confusing quote right there

[Kalis]

I just pointed out how wrong you are. Either you don't believe me, or you think I'm wrong. Why not explain to me how what I said was actually wrong instead of making declarations about our goals, tactics, and ideals?

I won't explain it again, but I'll state that you're wrong. Spectacularly so, from what I've seen and been involved with.

This is a headline from a regular contributor to a mainstream publication that pushes identity politics. Now can you honestly tell me they aren’t taking it upon themselves to speak on behalf of others?

“In future, leave writing about wokeness to black writers”

Putting aside their murdering of the English language, that is a call for segregation in article writing.

That is one of a multitude of articles from various mainstream publications claiming to speak on behalf of a racial group. So no, you don’t get to tell me what the definition of identity politics is, because you are wrong.

And many don't. That's the point and the problem. There is, using many trans folks as an example, a determined interest in interfering in our medical care and a more casual interest in laughing and mocking us.

Both push trans people together, for the record, and that creates blocks of those with similar concern that tend to advocate and vote for the same things. i.e. identity politics.

I still don’t care what you are.

[Zoldor]

Would MLK really be OK with the retaliatory actions of the Black Lives Matter group?

Who cares, Malcom and the rest were doing the same thing. One man doesn't get to choose the entire identity of any movement. He can just preach what he thought was the best practice to the solution. Some think it is the other side that makes it work. We'll never know if it was just MLK's version of the movement that worked or if it was the combined efforts and riots that helped get things changed and noticed as well.

[Kalis]

MLK on the theory that somehow advocating for equal rights turns people into white nationalists

Being racist towards white people is not advocating for equal rights, which is what I was talking about.

[Santoryu]

The funny thing is that the USA is still one of the most racists countries in the world. Remembering him is important, but even more important is to be aware that the work he started is far from complete.

[Elba]

Being racist towards white people is not advocating for equal rights, which is what I was talking about.

You and BuckSparkles were talking about how identity politics creates racism. MLK says that is bullshit.

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Idk how somebody could assume that, almost every post I have seen from you is talking about your gender identity and how much of a special snowflake you are. If you weren't white I can only assume you would be mentioning you are a PERSON OF COLOR in every post too.

God forbid marginalized people talk about their experiences and bring an actual relevant perspective to the table.

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“In future, leave writing about wokeness to black writers”

Have you actually read the article?

[Daelak]

The funny thing is that the USA is still one of the most racists countries in the world. Remembering him is important, but even more important is to be aware that the work he started is far from complete.

Precisely this. The conservatives, "woke independents", and "totally not racist buuuuuuut", on this board want people to believe that we have reached a post-racial strife era because Obama was president and Oprah is a billionaire. It doesn't take much to see how full of shit they are however, due to them using the exact same rhetoric used against MLK and the civil rights era movement on BLM, antifa, LGBTQ, and other disadvantaged populations.

[Kalis]

The funny thing is that the USA is still one of the most racists countries in the world.

As long as you ignore the entirety of Asia and Africa, much of South America, as well as Eastern Europe. It’s on a par with Southern Europe, but on an international level the US isn’t particularly racist.

[Elba]

Precisely this. The conservatives, "woke independents", and "totally not racist buuuuuuut", on this board want people to believe that we have reached a post-racial strife era because Obama was president and Oprah is a billionaire. It doesn't take much to see how full of shit they are however, due to them using the exact same rhetoric used against MLK and the civil rights era movement on BLM, antifa, LGBTQ, and other disadvantaged populations.

Yup, quite a few people seem to have vested interest in downplaying or outright denying the struggles of marginalized groups.

"When You’re Accustomed to Privilege, Equality Feels Like Oppression" comes to mind. The world is becoming more egalitarian. So of course the privileged push back.

[Kalis]

You and BuckSparkles were talking about how identity politics creates racism. MLK says that is bullshit.

It does, as identity politics is racist.

Have you actually read the article?

Yes, it is one of her more moronic articles, which is quite an achievement given she has set that bar quite high.

[Elba]

As long as you ignore the entirety of Asia and Africa, much of South America, as well as Eastern Europe. It’s on a par with Southern Europe, but on an international level the US isn’t particularly racist.

How do you measure this? Courics?

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It does, as identity politics is racist.

Marginalized people banding together to advocate against discrimination is racist?

Yes, it is one of her more moronic articles, which is quite an achievement given she has set that bar quite high.

What specifically did you find moronic?

[Daelak]

My only argument has ever been that the US can't be a white supremacist country with a black president.

I'm open to pretty much anything else if shown evidence.

Why can't it? Considering the historic opposition and vitriol raised by the right wing when he was governing, it shows that a large plurality of republican voters definitely did not want him to succeed.

[SinR]

King would be cool with the kneeling and condemn Trump for taking his "they're being disrespectful" stance.

He would condemn the looters and rioters that pop up every time a black kid gets shot by white cops. He'd slam the white cops, don't get me wrong, but he wouldn't be cool with the looting and rioting.

[Elba]

My only argument has ever been that the US can't be a white supremacist country with a black president.

There be no white supremacists?

Also https://www.salon.com/2008/11/03/racists_for_obama/

[GreenGoldSharpie]

This is a headline from a regular contributor to a mainstream publication that pushes identity politics. Now can you honestly tell me they aren’t taking it upon themselves to speak on behalf of others?

“In future, leave writing about wokeness to black writers”

Putting aside their murdering of the English language, that is a call for segregation in article writing.

That is one of a multitude of articles from various mainstream publications claiming to speak on behalf of a racial group. So no, you don’t get to tell me what the definition of identity politics is, because you are wrong.

What a specious argument. I mean, it's almost like you don't understand what's going on with the Left currently. I'll explain one time for you. One of the aspects that is currently being shaken out is the fact that a contingent of Bernie supporters have decided that any discussion beyond economic concerns is either something for another day or an attempt by corporate interests to hijack and co-opt the left. The result has been a number of writers who have written articles attacking the social side of the movement, and who are attempting to speak for the entire left rather than their own perspective. A good example would be someone like Christine Johnson (might be Johnston), who wrote that the entire LGBT movement has been co opted by corporate interests because we used corporate power to defeat HB 2 and Texas' bathroom bill with billions of dollars in boycotts.

Now, I don't care if hetero, cis folks speak on my behalf, but if their voice is not aligned with what I want and drowns out my voice in the process then, yes, we're going to have problems. That's not on my behalf. That's not working towards my stated best interests. I would guess that black activists feel much the same, and the ones I keep track of seem absolutely exasperated with the Bernie crew and their repeated insistence on calling anyone on the left who disagrees with them a "neo-liberal."

I have no problem calling out the above, which is generally the point of such articles.

Are you done telling me what the left defines as identity politics yet?

I still don’t care what you are.

Plenty of people do, and that's why a trans movement is coalescing.

[Daelak]

King would be cool with the kneeling and condemn Trump for taking his "they're being disrespectful" stance.

He would condemn the looters and rioters that pop up every time a black kid gets shot by white cops. He'd slam the white cops, don't get me wrong, but he wouldn't be cool with the looting and rioting.

He would understand the anger emanating from those communities who do riot and loot. That's literally the reason why he marched in those towns and in the poorest black communities, do march with them to the white area of town in solidarity to show the white community that they will not be silenced or intimidated.

[Kalis]

How do you measure this? Courics?

Surveys have been done of attitudes to race.

Marginalized people banding together to advocate against discrimination is racist?

Being racist towards a racial group is the racist part, perhaps read the comment chain.

What specifically did you find moronic?

Saying that only people of a certain race can write about a particular topic.

Segregation in journalism isn’t even a backward step in the UK, as we haven’t had it before, so it is a whole new brand of moronic.

[Zelk]

As long as you ignore the entirety of Asia and Africa, much of South America, as well as Eastern Europe. It’s on a par with Southern Europe, but on an international level the US isn’t particularly racist.

How is other countries are more racist a proper argument? You can't be serious.