While looking up a quote of MLK for a post, I came across a list of over a hundred of his great quotes. Each day I’m logged in to ET, I will post a new MLK quote, particularly if it has something to do with current events. I see MLK as a modern day saint whose wisdom is sorely needed today. My hope is this thread will inspire positive discussion among everyone here, regardless of political, religeous, or cultural philiophy. “The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility.” -MLK
The problem with the premise is the definition of racism. It seems to bifurcate when comparing racism of the 60s to the "racism" of today. As an example, segregation and "separate but equal" laws are trivially racist by the textbook definition, but "systemic racism" is a nebulous term. If we choose a definition of systemic racism consistent with the radicals in the protests he may very well agree with it. There's no saying for sure without injecting your own biases into the statement. I haven't studied the marches in the 60s well enough to understand his total stance. I do know he was strongly anti-capitalist in his later years. That being said according to this he had no obvious political leanings with his one goal being civil rights. Though it's been assumed he was a democratic socialist. If we project him in that lens he may be somewhat closer to a Bernie Sander at least as a first order approximation. I don't believe he would support the race riots based on his writing knowing he preferred non-violent civil disobedience. I don't believe he would support the rise of BLM to the status of a political party, nor do I believe he would support the overt kowtowing of every BLM mantra by the media: https://books.google.com/books?id=qW-NYdIefPgC&pg=PA84#v=onepage&q&f=false Given this I don't believe he would support Biden nor would he support Trump. He would likely view the Democrat's position as a facade given by their sudden and immediate appreciation of all things Black in an election year and their over-the-top prostration. He would, in my opinion, outwardly oppose Biden due to his being against integration. I think he would view the Republican position as hypocritical (Republicans generally supported civil rights legislation) given there has been almost nothing from their side w.r.t. police violence. Would he support the protests in light of the context of the shootings? It's hard to say without imposing my own view on him. But if his historical position is accurately portrayed I do not believe he would support such a sudden and visceral reaction to the death of criminals (in the literal sense of the word: having committed a crime). This context is far different than the context given in the 60s where young, innocent, black men were being literally lynched and innocent Black people were being kept "separate but equal".