Skip to content
Subscribe

Our Divisive Politics Are Destroying the Memory of Dr. King

Our Divisive Politics Are Destroying the Memory of Dr. King
Published:

One of the most influential individuals to set foot in this country was overshadowed yesterday. MLK Day was just another day of nonsense in the media; you can probably guess the hot topic.

Trump, Trump, and hey, why don’t we throw in a little more Trump to mix things up a bit?

Absolutely disgusting.

A Baptist minister by the name of Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream, a dream heard nationwide, a dream that influenced, and continues to influence, many people on the subject of racial equality. America officially has one day set aside to honor this man and his infamous speeches that preached togetherness. On MLK Day in 2018, togetherness was nowhere to be found.

The focus boiled down to one thing and one thing only: President Trump’s “s***hole countries” comment. His comment should not be overlooked, as these types of comments should never be accepted in our country. However, we must ask ourselves: Did we focus too much on a single sentence on a day set aside for focusing on so much more?

Hell yes we did. Don’t believe so? Let’s go over a few examples.

https://twitter.com/ananavarro/status/952969554816315392

https://twitter.com/RepMaxineWaters/status/952957186409467904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffreewheelus.com%2Fmlk-day-is-about-mlk%2F

https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/953071864561225731?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffreewheelus.com%2Fmlk-day-is-about-mlk%2F

https://twitter.com/BreitbartNews/status/953048155360321536?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ffreewheelus.com%2Fmlk-day-is-about-mlk%2F

Reality:

It’s pathetic to see a day meant to remember and rejoice the man who was the epitome of civil rights activism turned into a battle of tweets and misdirected articles from partisan sources.

If MLK would’ve been able to tweet yesterday, in the midst of this mess, he might say something like this:

Now that’s a tweet that would be trending, and rightfully so.

What do we hope you gain from this? An understanding of what really matters. An understanding that this man died for the people of this country. That this man put everything on the line to progress this nation and not push it back.

What did we do yesterday? We focused on our divisions rather than promoting MLK’s message of progression and togetherness. We should all be ashamed. Let’s make 2018 a focus of bringing this country back together, not a focus of furthering the divide.

© 2018 by Free Wheel Media. The article originally published on FreeWheelUs and has been republished by request and with permission from Free Wheel Media.

Photo Credit: Atomazul / shutterstock.com

Adhere to the IVN etiquette

By posting a comment, you agree to adhere to our etiquette rules: No partisan attacks, no personal attacks, substantiate your sources, no self-promotion.

Contact IVN

Questions about this article or our coverage? Send us a message. A free IVN member account is required.

Message sent

Thanks, we’ll review it and get back to you if needed.

Message not sent

Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

Sign in to send a message

Messages are tied to your IVN member account. Signing in is free and takes a few seconds.

Contact IVN

Questions about this article or our coverage? Send us a message. A free IVN member account is required.

Message sent

Thanks, we’ll review it and get back to you if needed.

Message not sent

Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

Sign in to send a message

Messages are tied to your IVN member account. Signing in is free and takes a few seconds.

Republish this article

Republishing guidelines

Republish IVN articles for free. Independent Voter News articles may be republished online or in print under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 license, on these terms:

  1. Credit the author and IVN. Keep the byline ("By Author Name, Independent Voter News") and the attribution note at the end, which links to the original.
  2. Keep the meaning. You may update time and place references and apply your house style. You may trim for length, as long as the cuts don't change the meaning or misrepresent the author. Keep the headline. Mark any additions as your own (for example "Additional reporting by ...").
  3. Translations are welcome. Translate faithfully, add "Translated from English by [your outlet]", and tell us at editor@ivn.us.
  4. Keep the links, including the link to the original article.
  5. Keep the tracking image. The HTML includes a 1-pixel image that counts readers on your page. It collects no personal information.
  6. Photos and illustrations. Images credited to IVN may be used with this article only. Images credited to others (AP, Getty, Unsplash, Wikimedia and so on) stay under their owners' terms. Secure the rights or switch "Include images" off.
  7. Don't sell it. You can't sell our articles or sell ads specifically against them. Your normal site advertising is fine.
  8. No implied endorsement. Don't suggest that IVN or the author endorses you, your candidates or your causes, or that donations to you support IVN.
  9. Keep labels. Opinion or analysis pieces keep that label.
  10. Point search engines to the original. Where your CMS allows, set the canonical URL to the original IVN article.
  11. No bulk or automated republishing, and don't submit our articles to aggregators (Apple News, Google News, MSN) as your own.
  12. Corrections and removals. Update your copy when we correct it, and remove it promptly if we ask. We'll contact you at the email you give us.
  13. Questions or print republication: editor@ivn.us.

IVN staff: fill in who you're inviting above, then create the invite.

Preparing the article

Our Divisive Politics Are Destroying the Memory of Dr. King

Choose a format
  • HTML
  • Email HTML
  • Markdown
  • Formatted (.docx)
  • Plain text
  • WordPress blocks
  • PDF
Choose a platform

Photos credited to others need their owners' permission.

To for

Republishing somewhere else? Questions? editor@ivn.us