MLK: An Anarchist Perspective

    Martin Luther King Day was yesterday and as a white American you may be wondering the significance of such a day to me.  I, as I am sure many other whites do, may not immediately see the significance of a civil rights leader who fought for the rights of blacks in America.  I was about to overlook the day altogether when last night I heard an interesting piece on the Tavis Smiley show on NPR.  One of the guests was addressing the significance of President Obama in regard to King’s goals.  His commentary, however, took a turn when he said that Obama, or simply having a black President, was an aspect of King’s dream, but ultimately his dream has yet to be fulfilled. 
    I claim no authority on King’s messages, but from what I do know, he was not only concerned with the rights and liberties of blacks in America, but that of minorities and even people all across the world.  He favored nonviolence in all situations, and this was very evident in his acts of civil disobedience.  King’s goals supersede the needs of any one group, and identify the necessity all people have for freedom and justice. 
    In the United States today we have not only disregarded much of this message, but we may have actually gotten worse.  King was opposed to the Vietnam War and described this opposition in a speech called “Beyond Vietnam” in which he said that the U.S. Government is “the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today.”  He called the  U.S. occupation of Vietnam an attempt at American colonization which echos today in the our current war in Iraq and Afghanistan as we continue to occupy these nations despite the futility of the cause. 
    Again we are reminded that King’s message was not just for one minority, but for all people, because it is necessary for all to people to understand that the fundamentals of peace must start with a policy of nonviolence in all situations with no aggressor. 
    Unfortunately, the United States has become the aggressor in the world today.  Ironically it was this aggression that led to the terrorist attacks of 9/11, something the intelligence community calls Blowback.  Rather than adjusting foreign policies in the world, and in the Middle East, the United States proceeded to step up its presence in the region, invaded two nation-states who governments and civilians had nothing to do with any acts of aggression toward the U.S.
    Rhetoric in the U.S. today causes anger, forms hate, and pushes nationalism.  However, this anger is often projected toward those the government wants us to hate, and not who is actually to blame, especially if the blame is to fall on the government itself. 
    Indeed you can tout about our civil rights and freedoms to the world, and promote democracy all you want, but the fact is that this county is no more free then it was.  Blacks enjoy rights they were not afforded in King’s time, but as they finally reached the level of “freemen” the nation as a whole began to take a nose dive with civil liberties for all.  The War on Communism, The War on Drugs, The War on Terrorism, all rhetorical ploys to scare the public into a certain way of thinking.  Ploys not to fight for our freedoms, but to find ways to restrict them.