Published:
January 18, 2020
"America's celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. rests on the flawed understanding of his historic and contemporary legacy," writes LBJ Professor Peniel Joseph, Barbara Jordan Chair in Ethics and Political Values and director of the LBJ School’s Center for the Study of Race and Democracy.
"Political leaders of varying ideological stripes embrace the most seemingly non-threatening aspects of King's legacy, namely his Christian religious faith and philosophy of non-violence. Turning King into a sanctified figure shorn of rough political edges allows us to celebrate the civil rights movement as a children's bedtime story, one with a happy ending."