WWMLKD by Eddie Huff

I know full well that I am about to step deep into “it” with what I am about to write, but those who know me also know that I have never been afraid of hesitant to say & write what I feel is the truth, even if no one else wants to address it.

What I want to address is the “Legend” that has become Martin Luther King Jr. or that he has become.

This morning I was guest on a Talk Radio program and as it was MLK day, the host wanted my opinion on President Obama and what Dr. King would have thought of him and his policies. Now almost every conservative talk show host I have heard that has address it, (the really smart ones do not even go there) has said the same thing. Martin Luther King would be against the actions and policies of Barack Obama and black leadership today. As I read blogs, Face Book post and any other communication especially from black conservatives, I hear the same refrain.

So when I was asked the question this morning “what do you think Martin Luther King would say to Barack Obama and his policies, I responded, “I think he would support them.” The host was shocked and silent for just a moment. Not what he was expecting. I went on to explain that near the end of his life Dr. King had essentially become a spokesman for the liberal left. His main focus had turned from civil rights to protesting the war in Viet Nam and a broader agenda of “Social Justice.” I suspect that this was due a true feeling of compassion for the “Least of These,” but also to his losing support in the black community to the likes of the more radical Stokely Carmichael and H. “Rap” Brown, as well as finding such willing and ample support from the “Left.”

Conservatives, black and white are almost, if not downright, afraid to admit this fact. Dr. King was the Pied Piper and the Black Community were either the Rats or the children that were led astray, depending on what makes you feel better. This is the road that Black America has continued on to this day. Since his untimely death Dr. King’s name has been exalted to Saint or at the least Iconic status. Liberals, black and white, throw Dr. King’s name around as their mentor and teacher, while conservatives, black and white try to claim some ownership in him based upon the one phrase “not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” If you do not believe me or think I am full of it, just ask any conservative to quote another line from any other speech of Dr. King’s, particularly one that speaks to conservative principles. You know I am right.

I am sorry, but I cannot play that game. Dr. King was a gifted and I believe sincere man who I also believe was on the right track early in his life and ministry. He had the potential to pick up the mantle and finish the job Booker T. Washington had started some 50-75 years earlier. But I think when the time came and he was met by that proverbial fork in the road, Dr. King chose the road of expediency instead of the road grounded in eternal truth. That road was a more difficult and the journey a more arduous one, but in my opinion it would have led black Americans to a far better destination.

I may be wrong, but I do not think so. I think it is time for people to stand up and face truth head on. What Would Martin Luther King Jr. (WWMLKD) do? I think he would do just exactly what 90% of black preachers are doing today. He would support Barack Obama, more government, and attack free enterprise as being evil and opposed to the message of social justice.

Let me close by saying, I respect Dr. King and the impact he made upon this nation. I respect him in the same manner that I respect W.E.B. DuBois as a brilliant intellectual. I must, however, separate what I think about a person and their accomplishments from the reality of the impact they made on society as it affects thought and culture. In Dr. King’s case, I believe that affect has not been all good as much as we want it to be so. Black conservatives have to be willing to tell it like it is and not get caught up in the cult of celebrity worship. Let’s make a clear distinction in a biblical world view and feel good syncretistic substitutes.

I pray that we may redeem the legend and the legacy of Dr. King as it was in its pure and early stage.