GAINES: The Ultimate betrayal? Probable racism on MLK day.

MLK 101: All men are created equal


You’d never find a worse racial paradox.

An Iowa City woman prevented me from videotaping a cleaning event at the Iowa City Public Library this afternoon. On a day when Americans are celebrating among other things—the diversity, compassion and all inclusiveness of Dr King— such a scenario will be unthinkable. Yet it happened to me.

While several MLK day events will make King stand tall in his grave, this might make him roll.

I had interviewed one member of a large group of white girls earlier on before they started cleaning the library. They were really nice. I just don’t understand why another student from the same group will tell me much later on not to interview/video their activities. Was she just unhappy or irritated by my presence? I was left with no other choice but to wonder whether it was because of my black color.

First let me say I do not belong to the tradition that thinks people who are not of my race are necessarily racist. I have lots of genuine white friends who I can call brothers/sisters any day. Whether the brunette lady in question’s action was an act of racism or not, I will never know. But as a black, it certainly got me thinking whether the true meaning of Martin Luther King Day is being lost.

Thanks to Obama, many are beginning to think of this day as one of service. This is great. But my fear is that such an overemphasis on just one aspect of King’s values might overshadow the rest.

“It is a day to help poor people”, “It is a day to teach my kids how to volunteer” were some of the responses I got when I asked people what MLK day mean to them. Which is all well and good but I hope we don’t pretend that is all King stood for. Actually Christian spirituality and the crusade against injustice are a crucial aspect of Dr King’s persona.

According to Andre Willis of the Yale Divinity School, Martin Luther King, Jr. “held two things in a kind of aesthetic tension: the social facts of our daily lives and the spiritual reality of our human existence.” Everything he espoused was premised on his spirituality including his chief belief that blacks and whites were created equal.

My concern is that while we mark this day as one of community service we shouldn’t also forget his core message. All men are created equal.