Monday's Opening Thought: January 17, 2022

Image description: An image of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. taking a mugshot photo after being arrested for protesting for Black lives and civil rights. He is seated, looking directly at the camera while wearing a tweed suit jacket. His prisoner designation number is hanging on a sign from his neck.

This week’s opening thought: During the 1960s, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a divisive public figure. "Divisive" is probably an understatement, to be honest. He was arguably the most hated man in the United States. In 1968, shortly after his murder, a Harris poll found that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a public disapproval rating of nearly 75%. Two years earlier, in 1966, Gallup conducted a poll to ask the U.S. American public their feelings and views on Dr. King. The poll found that his unfavorable rating was 63%. This number included 39% of U.S. Americans who gave him a -5 rating on a scale, with -5 being least favorable and +5 being most favorable. When did his unfavorable rating hit this number? When he turned his attention from southern de jure segregation toward de facto segregation in northern cities, of course. As soon as the "progressive North" began being called in and called out for their actions toward Black communities, Dr. King found himself in position as the most hated man in the country.

When Gallop asked U.S. Americans which three U.S. Americans they had the least respect for in 1964, Rev. Dr. King came in second at 42%. Who was number one? George Wallace, the openly white supremacist governor of Alabama who was one of the vilest political figures of the 20th century, at 47%. When asked which three U.S. Americans they had the most respect for, only 17% of those polled mentioned Rev. Dr. King.

During Dr. King's lifetime, white U.S. Americans believed that he was doing more harm than good for the fight for civil rights. In a 1966 Harris Poll, 50% of white U.S. Americans felt that he was hurting the Civil Rights effort, with only 36% believing his work and activism were helping. King's favorable rating among white U.S. Americans in 1966? 27%.

In the immediate aftermath of his murder, most U.S. Americans had a negative view of the Rev. Dr. King. Nearly a third of those polled (31%) said he brought his 1968 assassination upon himself. Less than a majority of those surveyed (43%) said they were sad (38%) or angry (5%) regarding his murder.

MLK Day was signed into law in 1983 by a President who led a "War on Drugs" that disproportionately harmed, killed, and imprisoned Black bodies. It wasn't observed as a federal holiday for the first time until 1986. It wasn't officially observed and celebrated in all fifty states simultaneously until 2000, with Utah becoming the last state to recognize MLK Day by name.

Until 1999, MLK Day was known as "Civil Rights Day" in New Hampshire until the State Legislature voted to change the name. But guess what? It's still not quite named MLK Day - it's "Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights Day." Arizona uses a similar name for the day.

Alabama and Mississippi still observe MLK Day as "Martin Luther King's and Robert E. Lee's Birthday" because celebrating a national holiday on Robert E. Lee's birthday was somehow sacrilegious. Virginia took it a step further, combining MLK Day with a celebration of the lives of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson until the year 2000.

Wyoming calls it "Martin Luther King Jr./Wyoming Equality Day." Liz Byrd, a trailblazer in her own right as the first Black person elected to the Wyoming Legislature, tried to push for the state to recognize the day as a paid holiday. The compromise? The naming of the holiday as MLK Day. You see, her colleagues would disagree with passing the bill to make MLK Day paid unless they got to keep their chosen name for the day.

I share all of this to get one point across - most of white U.S. America doesn't legitimately like or believe in the work and vision of people like the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Most of y'all like having a day off. Most of your companies just like being performative and bamboozling the communities they serve with weak PR. The thing that most of y'all don't seem to get or care about is that we [most Black people, most people of color] can see how fake it all is.

We work with y'all and for your companies every day, where we watch as y'all practice anti-Blackness in your white supremacist workplace practices and ideologies. We see y'all posting IG images with Dr. King and poorly interpreted quotes. We see your companies with their obligatory MLK Day posts, soapboxing for change. We witness your treatment of Black women and femmes, deeming them as "problematic" and impeding their career trajectory. We see how y'all talk to Black folx who work for you, telling us that we aren't "professional" because of how we speak or style our hair. In the eyes of whiteness, we're "trouble" if we speak up about the things that the Rev. Dr. King fought for alongside his allies and compatriots in the workplace and even in our communities. Because of all of this and more, y'all can miss us with these quote pictures and "hollow statements of action." I quote James Baldwin often, and I use this quote often, but it applies here:

I can't believe what you say because I see what you do.

Polls around how white U.S. Americans today feel about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. are generally favorable. In a 2011 Gallup poll, 94% of Americans had a favorable view of the Rev. Dr. King, including an 89% favorable rating among those aged 65 and older (folx born in 1927 or later).

57% of white U.S. Americans voted to reelect Donald Trump in November 2020.

Actions speak louder than flimsy Instagram posts and statements that leave out what your company is legitimately doing to address their connections to and perpetuation of white supremacy and anti-Blackness.

When white folx in the United States start holding their fellow white U.S. Americans and their white-centered workplaces accountable for their anti-Blackness and white supremacy, maybe white folx having today off will be significant. When white U.S. Americans start actively standing up against white supremacy and anti-Blackness at work and in their families and communities, then maybe white people having MLK Day as a day off will sting a little less. When white U.S. Americans start thinking beyond MLK Day as the only opportunity all year to support Black organizations and causes in their communities without the expectation of kudos and gold stars? Then maybe honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on this day will be more resonant. Until then?

Keep that nonsense to yourself. Nobody wants to see that fake sh--. You ain't slick.