Firstly, why is MLK controversial as a hero? King did a great deal for Civil Rights and inspired millions, undeniably, but there is evidence he also did a number of morally reprehensible things in his personal life, including having affairs with as many as 45 women. And then there’s the fact that part of his most famous speech was plagiarized from another black Republican, Archibald Carey. In 2019 it was reported that, “Secret FBI tapes that accuse Martin Luther King Jr of having extramarital affairs with ’40 to 45 women’ and even claim he ‘looked on and laughed’ as a pastor friend raped a parishioner exist.” Whether all those accusations are completely true or not — the FBI has sometimes been accurate in investigations — King was undeniably a philanderer and plagiarizer. He was not the best representative of black American heroism. So who is? Well, I don’t know if there’s one person in particular. But there are countless noble and essential black heroes in American history who deserve far more recognition than they now get. It is important to celebrate Americans of all ethnic backgrounds, but in light of tomorrow’s holiday, I will focus on black Americans today.
Tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. It has been corrupted by the radical left, which tries and push CRT while playing up the accusations of America as a racist country. But even apart from that Democrat framing, I’m going to make the controversial argument that Martin Luther King, Jr. is not the ideal representative of civil rights heroism in American history.
It is long past time that Americans on both sides of the political aisle faced the truth of the racism in America’s past and honored the black American patriots of our history. In terms of its founding principles and ideals, America, of course, was not founded to be a racist country. The opposite is true. As Frederick Douglass once observed, slavery could’ve been abolished without changing a word of the Constitution. Black Americans could vote in most states when the Constitution was first ratified. But unfortunately, as with any great endeavor, America did not always live up to its own ideals, and thousands of people suffered for it. So today, let us take the opportunity to learn about some of the largely unsung black heroes of American history, whose courage and virtue made this nation what it is. You probably haven’t heard of many of them, so perhaps pick one or two out of my list below for further study. James Armistead Lafayette, Booker T. Washington, Elijah Anderson, Joseph Rainey, James Baskett, Hiram Revels, Augustus Tolton, Samuel Lee, Bill Robinson, Phillis Wheatley, Medgar Evers, William Still, Milton Olive, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams… every one a hero.
Delusions of Adequacy 