Dr. Martin Luther King Jr: Our Nation was Born in Genocide
/Commentary
As Americans celebrate Martin Luther King Day Monday, across America, many tribal, federal, state and local governments will be closed to honor the legacy of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Monday should be more than a day off work or school. It should be a day of reflection.
It should be a day to reflect on justice and equality in the United States. Working for justice and equality for all Americans helped define Dr. King’s pilgrimage during America’s Civil Rights Movement. Even though he was faced with a constant barrage of death threats, harassment by the FBI and numerous arrests, Dr. King still worked hard to bring justice and equality for all Americans.
While Dr. King happened to be an African American, his leadership and dream transcended racial boundaries. Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American leader.
The effects of his great work impacted the lives of all Americans.
For instance, the passage of the momentous Civil Rights Act of 1964 benefited American Indians and Latinos, as well as African Americans. We can now go places we could not go prior to 1964. We can now stay in motels we could not stay in prior to 1964.
Prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, American Indians were not allowed in many establishments simply because we were Indians. Many establishments prominently displayed signs that read:
“No Indians or Dogs Allowed”
in various parts of this country. There is a major difference between an Indian and a dog, I may add.
One Ottawa elder recalls, when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 became a federal law, business proprietors, who owned restaurants, motels and shops, in the upper portion of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula held a meeting to discuss “what they were going to do now that they had to serve Indians.”
In his effort to bring justice and equality for all Americans, Dr. King noted the gross mistreatment of American Indians in the United States, as he reflected on the origins of racism in America in his 1963 book, “Why We Can’t Wait:”
“Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. Even before there were large numbers of Negroes on our shores, the scar of racial hatred had already disfigured colonial society. From the sixteenth century forward, blood flowed in battles of racial supremacy. We are perhaps the only nation which tried as a matter of national policy to wipe its indigenous population. Moreover, we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade. Indeed, even today we have not permitted ourselves to reject or to feel remorse for this shameful episode. Our literature, our films, our drama, our folklore all exalt it.”
Sadly, so much of what Dr. King wrote over 50 years ago still rings true even today for American Indians.
Personally, I am glad Americans celebrate Martin Luther King Day. It makes me reflect on what was and what still needs to be done as we work towards justice and equality in America. We know there is still much work to be done.
Editor’s Note: This commentary was first published in Native News Online for Martin Luther King Day on January 19, 2014.
Aroha(love) and Blessings from Aotearoa(New zealand) to all our first nations brothers and sisters. Although our history is not as horrific as yours, Maori and other indigenous cultures who were colonised share the same struggles. Know that you will always have the support of Maori! ..Idle no more!
Thanks, Levi, for sharing this on the day we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. He echoes the words of William Apess (Pequod), whose observations precede MLK’s by more than a century: “Assemble all nations together in your imagination, and then let the whites be seated amongst them, and then let us look for the whites, and I doubt not it would be hard finding them; for to the rest of the nations, they are still but a handful. Now suppose these skins were put together, and each skin had its national crimes written upon it–which skin do you think would have the greatest? I will ask one question more. Can you charge the Indians with robbing a nation almost of their whole Continent, and murdering their women and children, and then depriving the remainder of their lawful rights, that nature and God require them to have? And to cap the climax, rob another nation [African slaves] to till their grounds, and welter out their days under the lash with hunger and fatigue under the scorching rays of a burning sun? I should look at all the skins, and I know that when I cast my eye upon that white skin, and if I saw those crimes written upon it, I should enter my protest against it immediately, and cleave to that which is more honorable.” (from “An Indian’s Looking Glass for the White Man” (1833).
Have two missions going on in your life: one for self and the other: one for others, social justice is a continual battle as greed, disorder of social affairs, hurting people, and poor business is always present. Fear and hopelessness will stop actions of solving these ills, it shouldn’t be. Be present in the battle and continue to fight. As Dr. Martin Luther King, stated: silence is appalling.
Thanks for sharing again on this important day of reflection and remembrance.