Monday, April 28, 2014

Dr. King and Cliven Bundy - Even Before The Racist Rhetoric Why The Protesters Were All White







By: Joel Gardner
Executive Director - Whitewashed USA


This week, Cliven Bundy - a cattle rancher in Nevada, made some tasteless and ignorant racial remarks, I don't even feel the need to repeat or address them, but I did come across a video of Dr. King that I think plays into this story in an interesting way.

It's no wonder that many states had laws for generations to stop People of Color from becoming educated. An educated person can not only see when something is wrong, they can also find the causes and motivate others to do something about it. Dr. King understood history, and he had the uncanny ability to explain it in a way that put context and legitimacy around the pain that still haunts many members of our society. This is why so many white folks felt threatened by him, this is why he was ultimately killed.

I had not heard this speech before, but as usual he nailed it, the history he tells is true, and the point he makes still reverberates through the decades to the stand off in Nevada. Setting aside the ignorant remarks from Bundy, the reason you will not see People of Color supporting this rancher is because he stands on land that is his by virtue of birth alone, with all of the financial and social incentives this country has to offer, pushing him towards success, and still, he is complaining that it's not enough. Not only does he feel entitled to all that he has but he also feels entitled to additional land owned by the American people to grow his business (cattle) at no charge. This attitude of expecting things to always lean in your favor, because they usually have historically, is the essence of white privilege.

Here is Dr. King explaining much better than I ever could, special thanks to Harold Lee Rush for sharing this -