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TokenBoomer@lemmy.world

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Old man believes whatever he sees on cable TV (europe.pub)

submitted 5 days ago by geneva_convenience@lemmy.ml to c/progressivepolitics@lemmy.world

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Full tweets with context: https://xcancel.com/hasanthehun/status/1932168427470516520

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[–] Initiateofthevoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 4 days ago (1 children)

MLK Jr.'s speech on riots being the voice of the unheard was powerful, and stabbed at the heart of a complex issue.

But a year before that speech, here's what he had to say about the Watts riots:

“What did Watts accomplish but the death of thirty-four Negroes and injury to thousands more? What did it profit the Negro to burn down the stores and factories in which he sought employment? The way of riots is not a way of progress, but a blind ally of death and destruction which wrecks its havoc hardest against the rioters themselves” (King, 12 March 1966).

[–] anarchiddy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Uhhh, yes, he did say that.... While addressing black americans living in the slums of Chicago, pleading with them not to "strike out with revenge against white people for the many wrongs perpetrated against you and yours".

I don't really think there's any comparison between the Watts riots and the nature of the LA protests, not even close.

[–] Initiateofthevoid@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I don’t really think there’s any comparison between the Watts riots and the nature of the LA protests

See if you can spot the difference between Bernie’s statement and MLK’s:

Let me say as I’ve always said, and I will always continue to say, that riots are socially destructive and self-defeating. … But in the final analysis, a riot is the language of the unheard.

I didn't compare them. You did.

[–] anarchiddy@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 4 days ago

MLK wasn't discussing Watts in that quote, he was speaking very broadly about placing emphasis on the conditions that lead to riots instead of the riots themselves, and specifically on how much condemnation to place on them vs the conditions that lead to them.

In yours, he's speaking directly to people who are living in a slum where violent retribution was a commonly understood feeling, and who had every reason to feel justified in lashing out in revenge. He specifically uses Watts as an example of an extreme expression of that revenge.

The LA protestors are not lashing out in revenge - I don't think that quote, in the context in which it was given, applies to the protestors in LA. And I don't think MLK's thoughts on Watts in particular have any applicability to what's happening in LA, but I do think it's worthwhile for Sanders to take a lesson from MLK on where to place his condemnations.