Celebrating Martin Luther King Day -- with Ill Will

For those foreigners who may enjoy this blog (and I know there are at least five of you), Martin Luther King Day is a federal holiday that celebrates the life and work of a man who, through the use of oratory and non-violent protest, furthered the cause for racial, gender and ethnic equality. The world had not before, nor since, seen a man who, in the course of only 12 -15 years, raised awareness of injustice and fought for its end so effectively.

Sure, some of you think that Jesus may have a stronger case for this, and you have a valid point.  I put it to you, however, that it is still in question that he actually existed. Personally, I think he did exist. Even so, we already have Christmas, Easter, Good Friday, Palm Thursday, Ash Wednesday, Wing-Night Tuesday, and Monday Monday. He doesn’t need another holiday. Nice guy, though – a real mensch.

For most of us, Martin Luther King became the symbol for the fight against universal oppression by racial and religious hegemony, government policy and the free market.

I’ve always felt a great sense of pride in my belief, fostered by my parents, in equality for all people, even Gypsies.

OK, I may still need to work on Gypsies. I don’t think I know any. In the event I do find out that one of my friends is a Gypsy, I will immediately approach him with my wallet in my front pocket, shake his hand, tell him that I am impressed he is so articulate, and mention to him – in an offhand manner – how much I enjoy Django Reinhardt and Gypsy Rose Lee. 

Question: Are they even called Gypsies anymore? I've heard they preferred to be called Roma or Romany. Well, that’s just like them! But I’m resolved, as soon as I meet a Romany person, I will make him/her one of my best friends just so I can tell people, “Hey, one of my best friends is a Gypsy… er, Romany… and he’s good people… he’s alright.”

It would not be in keeping with the spirit of Ill Will and Everything Else just to praise Dr. King and celebrate this holiday. So as we, a nation, engage in a day of sedentary non-action in order to celebrate a man who epitomized non-violent protest  (why do we always miss the point?),  I would like to direct your attention to some people who may not be so pleased that the good Reverend Doctor King Jr. ever existed.

"When Strom Thurmond ran for president, we voted for him. We're proud of it. And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over all these years, either." Trent Lott

“The NFL all too often looks like a game between the Bloods and the Crips without any weapons.” Rush Limbaugh

“Detaining all Muslims between the ages of 16 and 45 isn’t racial profiling, it’s criminal profiling.” Bill O’Reilly

“Do your duty. Make more babies… By far, the greatest number are Hispanic. You know what that means? Twenty-five years and the majority of the population is Hispanic. Why is that? Well, Hispanics are having more kids than others. Notably, the ones Hispanics call "gabachos" -- white people -- are having fewer.” John Gibson

“But basically, if you're talking about a day like today, Martin Luther King Junior Day, and you're gonna understand what civil rights has become, the con it's become in this country. It's a whole industry; it's a racket. It's a racket that is used to exploit primarily heterosexual, Christian, white males' birthright and steal from them what is their birthright and give it to people who didn't qualify for it.” Michael Savage (nee Weiner, and yes, he is Jewish)

What’s the lesson? The people who rallied against de-segregation and civil rights back then are still around. The names and faces may have changed. They may not use the n-word (as much), but they’re still here. Don’t fall for their claims of a “color-blind” philosophy.

What was evil then is still evil now. The fight for equality for all never stopped. I hope that wherever Dr. King is… well, I hope he has something better to do than watch us… we’ve gotten way pathetic with our Reality TV fetish.