Misremembering Dr. King: Revisiting the Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

by Jennifer J. Yanco

We all know the name. Martin Luther King Jr., the great American civil rights leader. But most people today know relatively little about King, the campaigner against militarism, materialism, and racism―what he called the "giant triplets." Jennifer J. Yanco takes steps to redress this imbalance. "My objective is to highlight the important aspects of Dr. King's work which have all but disappeared from popular memory, so that more of us can really 'see' King." After briefly telling the familiar story of King's civil rights campaigns and accomplishments, she considers the lesser-known concerns that are an essential part of his legacy. Yanco reminds us that King was a strong critic of militarism who argued that the United States should take the lead in promoting peaceful solutions rather than imposing its will through military might; that growing materialism and an ethos of greed was damaging the moral and spiritual health of the country; and that in a nation where racism continues unabated, white Americans need to educate themselves about racism and its history and take their part in the weighty task of dismantling it.

Genres: History

110 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome book which delves into the sanitization of King's legacy. Each day I realize more and more that American (Western) media is arguably the single most insidious force on the planet. The media serves its masters needs first (hint-it's not you or me.) Go back to Gobbels to figure out the media's strategy. One very important aspect of this book is that the media is lying by omission when it comes to Dr. King. Don't look to statues or the news to learn about King- they have a conflict of interest. You will need to actually open a book or webpage... go to his original sources. King had a dream and we have collectively fallen into a coma of laziness, ignorance, apathy and exceptionalism (everything King fought against.) Oh yeah, and he was probably murdered by the US gov't (one of the most evil forces on the planet.)

"The official version that he was assassinated by James Earl Ray was called into question by the 1999 wrongful death case filed by the King family. In this civil case, which received little notice by the media, a jury of six black and six white jurors found that the assassination of Dr. King was carried out by a conspiracy involving the U.S. government, as alleged by Loyd Jowers in 1993, and that James Earl Ray was a scapegoat." p12

[Jerry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found the book full of sweeping generalizations, citing of “facts” without supporting data, and little original thought. The same old liberal mantras about the incarceration rate of blacks, the division of wealth, etc. if one person gets away with a crime ( a white), that does not mean that one committed by a black should go unpunished. Rather, we need to focus on the conditions that seem to force blacks into criminal behavior at a higher rate, e.g., a perpetual cycle of poverty. Similarly, she talks about wealth as if it is a finite commodity - it is not. Rather, we should focus on that which will give all people equal opportunity of acquiring wealth.