Was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a Communist?

[Dejavu]

Discuss.

[wallflower]

J. Edgar Hoover sure wished he was...

No - Dr. King was a prophet. "Isms" don't do his legacy any justice.

[Joby]

J. Edgar Hoover sure wished he was...

No - Dr. King was a prophet. "Isms" don't do his legacy any justice.

Great post.

[BIG BROTHER]

No he wasn't.

[RedAnarchist]

I'm fairly sure he was a Christian.

[Holden Caulfield]

Red i hope this is sarcasm i cant tell through writing format, my apologies if you (or me) are just stupid,

not a chance was he communist, none of the 'mainstream' leaders were, not even my beloved Malcom X

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

He wasn't a communist, but he did have intentions to campaign against poverty as well as racism. Rumour has it that's why he was assassinated.

[JazzRemington]

You all know this was probably posted with the intent of starting shit?

[Dros]

Red i hope this is sarcasm i cant tell through writing format, my apologies if you (or me) are just stupid,

not a chance was he communist, none of the 'mainstream' leaders were, not even my beloved Malcom X

I hope it wasn't. Christians aren't communists.

And by the way, no. He was most definitely not a communist.

[freakazoid]

He was a Christian, doesn't mean he can't be a communist though, although I don't think he was.

Malcom X wasn't? I thought he was.

[Schrödinger's Cat]

He was a socialist. King in his later life saw the injustice in contemporary class relations and called for people to overcome capitalism. I think his perception of communism was tainted by the anti-Stalinist aura that engulfed the late 50s.

[Schrödinger's Cat]

I hope it wasn't. Christians aren't communists.

And by the way, no. He was most definitely not a communist.

Christians aren't strict Marxists. There are certainly Christian communists.

[IcarusAngel]

He was a Socialist. He was supported striking workers when he was killed.

[Sendo]

like icarus said, he was an (anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist) socialist.

Malcolm X became one, too, though he always had more revolutionary slants.

Neither lived long enough to develop their political consiousnesses further, nor long enough to broaden their campaigns, nor become revolutionary in the way that "communism" is.

I'm sure if he had lived much longer his socialism would have become too well-known and then we'd celebrate assholes like Andrew Young on Black History Month. It's what we did to Benedict Arnold. The guy practically won the Battle of Saratoga (the turning point of the American war of independence), but b/c his girlfriend convinced him to become a loyalist at the last minute of the war and run away to england he is known as the greatest traitor EVER.

[Dros]

Christians aren't strict Marxists. There are certainly Christian communists.

I prefer to put quotes around the term "Christian communist" to highlight the impossibility of such a thing under any reasonable definition of what it means to be "Communist".

It's possible to be Christian and live in a commune. It's possible to be Christian and want to abolish class. It is not possible to be a Christian and aim (with the goal of achieving) a society where the masses are liberated from oppression, where class is abolished, where the misery of people especially under patriarchal conditions has been smashed, and where the sciences and arts can truly flourish.

The reason is this:

1.) All religions are reactionary.
2.) Religion is necessarily an unscientific way of viewing the world. Truth is good.

[Dejavu]

Now, Who was S.B. Fuller?

Discuss.

[careyprice31]

i was just going to say something about fuller in your king thread but you brought him up first.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_B._Fuller

You told me you think he did more for black people than Dr King did. and you told me why you thought so and i read about him on wiki.

He thought that a big reason why black people didnt get so far ahead in life was because they had not much to offer. I dont know about you but maybe that makes some sort of sense since when they were slaves they werent trained for anything, couldnt do much of anything and their owners wanted them to be ignorant anyway. so yea they didnt have much to offer. I think the idea holds a little water, but I completely disagree with fuller's assertion that wherever capitalism exists there is freedom.

He was a very big capitalist in fact during the 1950's he was perhaps the richest black person in america at the time. Big capitalist who owned a company .

he was boycotted by many of the famous black leaders and such.

[Die Neue Zeit]

Thanks to the development of the media (TV), he showed how it was possible to extract minimum demands from the bourgeoisie WITHOUT resorting to parliamentarianism.

[Unicorn]

MLK definitely sympathized with communism and his close friends and associates were CPUSA members. Unfortunately, because right-wingers want to use this fact to taint MLK's legacy people on the left often have a knee-jerk reaction and deny MLK's socialist views and sympathies towards communism.

Nelson Mandela is a similar case. He was a committed Marxist until he became a liberal sell-out.

[RHIZOMES]

No. He was a wishy-washy liberal who encouraged blacks to "turn the other cheek" while the ruling class fucked blacks over. MLK was a way for the ruling class to defang the revolutionary undercurrent that existed in the civil rights movement at the time, which threatened their power.

[Sky]

Dr King represents black courage and achievement and high moral leadership. Although at first a bourgeois liberal, in the last years of his life, Dr King came to understand the social nature of the race problem and the necessity for social reforms. He called upon blacks to unite their cause with that of white workers. Dr King developed and extensively used the tactic of mass nonviolent acts in the struggle for civil rights. Dr King was one of the first prominent African-American leaders to oppose US aggression in Vietnam. All Americans must honor the heroic legacy of Dr King, an extraordinary man who helped to bring such immense change for the better in the United States.

[Schrödinger's Cat]

i was just going to say something about fuller in your king thread but you brought him up first.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_B._Fuller

You told me you think he did more for black people than Dr King did. and you told me why you thought so and i read about him on wiki.

He thought that a big reason why black people didnt get so far ahead in life was because they had not much to offer. I dont know about you but maybe that makes some sort of sense since when they were slaves they werent trained for anything, couldnt do much of anything and their owners wanted them to be ignorant anyway. so yea they didnt have much to offer. I think the idea holds a little water, but I completely disagree with fuller's assertion that wherever capitalism exists there is freedom.

He was a very big capitalist in fact during the 1950's he was perhaps the richest black person in america at the time. Big capitalist who owned a company .

he was boycotted by many of the famous black leaders and such.

I knew about Samuel Feller, and he's rightly lost to the back burner of history behind Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Saying he did more than King is just absurd. Little organization came from his exploitation of labor. At the time black leaders were already advancing into the business world.

[Bud Struggle]

He thought that a big reason why black people didnt get so far ahead in life was because they had not much to offer. I dont know about you but maybe that makes some sort of sense since when they were slaves they werent trained for anything, couldnt do much of anything and their owners wanted them to be ignorant anyway. so yea they didnt have much to offer.

I'll say this--living in the Southern United States--there is racism and it's just that, keeping Blacks from having something to offer. It's subtle stuff, I didn't really notice it until my kids were in school down here. Everybody's polite to Blacks and talk up education and striving for success but lots of Blacks are margenalized at a young age or in school age years and never move into positions in business like they should here.

There's separate tracks in school for Blacks and whites--any
Black could get into the higher end tracks, but without REAL STRONG parental support that fall out. (And that's not to say that Black parents don't help, but few have the education to help their kids.)

It's racism, but I can't honestly tell if it done on purpose or it just happens this way and nobody is interested in doing anything about it.

[careyprice31]

I knew about Samuel Feller, and he's rightly lost to the back burner of history behind Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X. Saying he did more than King is just absurd. Little organization came from his exploitation of labor. At the time black leaders were already advancing into the business world.


yea dejavu told me why he thinks fuller did more for black people than dr king.

Today btw is the 40th anniversary of Dr King's death. It was in the newspaper today.

R.I.P Dr. King.

[RHIZOMES]

[/color][/size]

I'll say this--living in the Southern United States--there is racism and it's just that, keeping Blacks from having something to offer. It's subtle stuff, I didn't really notice it until my kids were in school down here. Everybody's polite to Blacks and talk up education and striving for success but lots of Blacks are margenalized at a young age or in school age years and never move into positions in business like they should here.

There's separate tracks in school for Blacks and whites--any
Black could get into the higher end tracks, but without REAL STRONG parental support that fall out. (And that's not to say that Black parents don't help, but few have the education to help their kids.)

It's racism, but I can't honestly tell if it done on purpose or it just happens this way and nobody is interested in doing anything about it.

Wow for once I agree with you.

[Schrödinger's Cat]

I happen to be one of those conspirators who believes the CIA had its hands wrapped around the MLK's assassination, due to his radicalization in the late 60s.

In lieu of yesterday's date, I think it's important to talk about why Dr. King was visiting Memphis in the first place. The media likes to skim over the fine details of Martin Luther King, but he deserves some level of justice. A strike called by the garbage workers was bringing national attention due to the obscene conditions both whites and blacks had to deal with. At the time an average garbageman would make more from welfare than laboring 40 hours a week. The blacks had it worse. Oftentimes their funds were withheld due to bad weather. On such a day two blacks took refuge in the mouth of a garbage truck to get out of the rain. The truck had already arrived back at the sanitation office but the whites did not allow the black crew members inside. While they were in the back somehow the ram was activated and they were instantly crushed.

Remember this story whenever someone tells you a business has the right to discriminate. Rest peacefully, Mr. King.

[Sendo]

I happen to be one of those conspirators who believes the CIA had its hands wrapped around the MLK's assassination, due to his radicalization in the late 60s.

In lieu of yesterday's date, I think it's important to talk about why Dr. King was visiting Memphis in the first place. The media likes to skim over the fine details of Martin Luther King, but he deserves some level of justice. A strike called by the garbage workers was bringing national attention due to the obscene conditions both whites and blacks had to deal with. At the time an average garbageman would make more from welfare than laboring 40 hours a week. The blacks had it worse. Oftentimes their funds were withheld due to bad weather. On such a day two blacks took refuge in the mouth of a garbage truck to get out of the rain. The truck had already arrived back at the sanitation office but the whites did not allow the black crew members inside. While they were in the back somehow the ram was activated and they were instantly crushed.

Remember this story whenever someone tells you a business has the right to discriminate. Rest peacefully, Mr. King.


absolutely right. The education you get in Black Hist Month jumps from I have a dream to his death, with no details on the cirumstances whatsoever, except that he was shot.

[Random Precision]

Martin Luther King's Last Fight (http://www.isreview.org/issues/58/feat-MLK.shtml)

[Ultra-Violence]

King was the man and whenever his birthday roles around i trun on the radio adn light a blunt smoke and listen he get em every time Even i look up to him i am ctiical of him at the same time but back to the question was he a red?

Id like to believe if he was still alive today he would be with out a doubt if you listen to his speeches near the end of his life youll hear him talk about bot just Racail divides and all that Stuff But BRIEFLY! he talks about class etc... and economic injustice so i say if he were to develope his politics further he could of been will never know R.I.P my brother

[Ultra-Violence]

I happen to be one of those conspirators who believes the CIA had its hands wrapped around the MLK's assassination, due to his radicalization in the late 60s.

In lieu of yesterday's date, I think it's important to talk about why Dr. King was visiting Memphis in the first place. The media likes to skim over the fine details of Martin Luther King, but he deserves some level of justice. A strike called by the garbage workers was bringing national attention due to the obscene conditions both whites and blacks had to deal with. At the time an average garbageman would make more from welfare than laboring 40 hours a week. The blacks had it worse. Oftentimes their funds were withheld due to bad weather. On such a day two blacks took refuge in the mouth of a garbage truck to get out of the rain. The truck had already arrived back at the sanitation office but the whites did not allow the black crew members inside. While they were in the back somehow the ram was activated and they were instantly crushed.

Remember this story whenever someone tells you a business has the right to discriminate. Rest peacefully, Mr. King.


OOH OOOH! srry didnt read this got to post about it

^^^^^^^^^^^^
I Beleive personaly the govement shot him due to the fact that MLK was moving away from race and getting to the Class war listen to his speeches its their sorry i dont know wich oned but thier there

[Orange Juche]

He was a democratic socialist. He said something (directly) along the lines of "we need to move towards some sort of democratic socialism.". He spoke against imperialism, militarism, and capitalism.

He liked Marxs' works to a degree, but was critical of materialism, and says that he believes there is room for spiritualism as well.

[redSHARP]

MLK was a great person, maybe he was christian or a liberal, but he did a great thing. his "revolution" did not involve violence but he changed the face of the world and proved that shit can get done with out violence (there was some but nothing the was started by him). the government has its grubby neo-con hands all over the assasination. and just because they are liberal, doesnt mean they are evil or sell outs, they just did thier share, now it is up to us to finish the job they started. MLK had sympathy for the communists but did not share their complete views, that and the bad PR the commies had in America at the time.

p.s. wasnt malcom X racist or was that a just propaganda against him?

p.p.s "christian communists" was a term the nazis used back in the 20's and 30's to win over the religous working class who sat on the fence

[Joby]

[/color][/size]

I'll say this--living in the Southern United States--there is racism and it's just that, keeping Blacks from having something to offer. It's subtle stuff, I didn't really notice it until my kids were in school down here. Everybody's polite to Blacks and talk up education and striving for success but lots of Blacks are margenalized at a young age or in school age years and never move into positions in business like they should here.

There's separate tracks in school for Blacks and whites--any
Black could get into the higher end tracks, but without REAL STRONG parental support that fall out. (And that's not to say that Black parents don't help, but few have the education to help their kids.)

It's racism, but I can't honestly tell if it done on purpose or it just happens this way and nobody is interested in doing anything about it.

Here in Texas, we have "Indepenent School Districts," which are still the status quo in order to avoid the "Bussing Issue."

I really dislike the Southern Racial psyche, if you will. It really feels like, to at least a certain extent, that the entie society is built on different ethnicities which maintain there distance. I've also lived in both California and Arizona and the sense of racial tension is still existent but at least it seems to be progressive, you know? But eh give the south 100 years or so and it'll be all right.

[Ultra-Violence]

^^^^
Maybe like another 300 For gods Sake Thier Flying the Confederate Flag on the state capital in South Carolina!

[Dystisis]

I prefer to put quotes around the term "Christian communist" to highlight the impossibility of such a thing under any reasonable definition of what it means to be "Communist".

It's possible to be Christian and live in a commune. It's possible to be Christian and want to abolish class. It is not possible to be a Christian and aim (with the goal of achieving) a society where the masses are liberated from oppression, where class is abolished, where the misery of people especially under patriarchal conditions has been smashed, and where the sciences and arts can truly flourish.

The reason is this:

1.) All religions are reactionary.
2.) Religion is necessarily an unscientific way of viewing the world. Truth is good.
Well, some of that doesn't make any sense.

You have to differentiate between "religious thoughts" and "organized religion". Religious thoughts aren't necessarily reactionary, they are simply philosophic thoughts.

Religious thoughts approach things we are not yet able to approach with science (unless it changes method somehow might be we never will). In some schools they f.ex. consider the possibility of there being a force that created the physical world we know today (but does not intervene). Science has no way to disprove this claim, in fact, it could be true for all we know. It is actually quite logical to think there being something starting something (everything).

However, I agree that organized religion in general is detrimental to our progress.