As a white male of north European ancestry born on U.S. soil in the middle of the 20th century, mine is one of the most privileged demographics in history. Today’s celebration of the birth of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr., is a federal holiday, at least for now. 1/11

On Saturdays, starting about age 8, I’d go into town w/my old man. The Stone Hut, a diner on South Main just north of Markland in Kokomo, was a place where he’d buy me breakfast. The chatter there often was about politics & frequently civil rights. 2/11

The views expressed were quite racist. At school, we were taught that the Civil War was fought because Southern States stood up for some “higher” values [FN1] and that Reconstruction was doomed because former slaves had not been ready for freedom. [FN2] 3/11

When Dr King was assassinated, he had won the Nobel Peace Prize legitimately [FN3], yet had an “unfavorable” rating of 75% in a Harris poll. [FN4] He was killed because he worked to protect the rights of all. trump has disparaged MLK day and Juneteenth. [FN5] 4/11

Racism is a dynamic of our history. Europeans stole the land from peoples who had lived here for millennia, then created infrastructure and harvested crops with much of the labor being done by enslaved people. Washington’s birthday is a holiday; he owned slaves. 5/11

We celebrate the arrival, in this “new world,” of Columbus, who said the indigenous people here were “well-built, with good bodies and handsome features...With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” [FN6] Genocide followed. 6/11

There’s irony in Christian nationalists decrying this holiday. After all, if there was a Jesus, as portrayed in the first four books of the New Testament, in all likelihood, he did not have blue eyes and blonde hair. Holidays should celebrate who we really are. 7/11

Footnotes:
FN1. The only value was preservation of the institution of chattel slavery, as secession statements of Georgia (1/29/61), South Carolina (12/24/60), Mississippi (1/9/61) and Texas. (2/2/61) make clear. The Confederate Constitution enshrined slavery. Art. IV, sec 2. 8/11

FN2. This was false. Each of us is “ready for freedom” at birth. Reconstruction was doomed the GOP agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South in exchange for Rutherford B Hayes being handed the WH in 1876. See, Morris, “Fraud of the Century,” (2003), pp. 246-50. 9/11

FN3. And not as a result of throwing a tantrum & getting a medal itself from a legitimate winner.
FN4. James C Cobb, “Even Though He Is Revered Today, MLK Was Widely Disliked by the American Public When He Was Killed,” Smithsonian Magazine, 4/4/2018, accessed 1/19/26. 10/11

FN5. Jordan Green, “Did Trump cancel MLK Day? Why the holiday may be different in 2026,” Knox News, 1/12/26, accessed 1/19/26.
FN6. Howard Zinn, “A People’s History of the United States,” (2005 ed.), p. 1. 11/11