Written November 2008

Yes, finally, George W. Bush is out of office. We can thank him for ruining the Republican Party for quite a while. We have all banded together -- yes, even in Canada people campaigned through various means to influence their American friends -- in order to make sure that Barack Obama wins the Presidency. There is no question about it that Obama is a better choice than John McCain and he may at least provide a different framework for U.S. foreign and domestic policies. All of that said, people should have no illusions about what his Presidency entails.

To mention a few, he wants to continue military operations in Afghanistan, the brutal embargo on Cuba, he wants to keep threatening Iran with military strikes, he supports military incursions into Pakistan's borders, he claims to support Israel unequivocally and so on. His recent appointment of Rahm Emanuel, who is even more of a staunch defender of Israel (at one point he claims Bush Jr. was not supportive enough),  as Chief of Staff does not bode well at all for the people of Palestine. Obama's full perspective in terms of domestic and foreign policy is still kind of a blur. Like many, I try to remain hopeful that there will be fundamental changes. There is definitely a more sense of diplomacy now as opposed to Bush's remarkably ignorant and destructive cowboy diplomacy. Thus, let us wait and see what comes with practical politics and high flying rhetoric.

One thing people definitely need to stop doing is either comparing Obama to Martin Luther King Jr. or making the assumption that King would be overjoyed just by merely having an African-American for a President. It completely insults the legacy of this great civil rights leader and anyone who pays heed to such empty rhetoric is ignorant of what he actually stood for.

While I would assume that if Martin Luther King Jr. was alive today he would be happy that Obama won the presidency, as it does have an important symbolic meaning (and yes, it does spark some hope that your voice would be listened to as well), I would put into question people's assumptions about how overjoyed he would actually be. In light of what has come out of Obama's mouth and has done so far, I am quite sure that King would be one his staunchest critic.

It is not unusual that the media have grown accustomed to attaching Martin Luther King Jr. to Barack Obama. In this case, creating attraction once again towards an extremely desensitized version of his life for their own advantage. Every Martin Luther King Day you will always find the media honoring him (rightly so). Although, it is difficult to ignore what the media will always leave out of the narrative. The chronology of his life jumps from 1965 to 1968 as if suddenly King decided to take a break from all this civil rights stuff. He got what he wanted (the civil rights acts) and it was time for him to sit back, enjoy his win and not have a care in the world. Of course, during his vacation time he got shot. From the lack of reporting in the last years of his life, this is the only possible conclusion that one can come to. Or, perhaps he did volunteer work in various organizations or something like that. Played golf maybe? Clearly, he disappeared for some reason and reappeared again when he was gunned down.

Those in positions of power cannot accept what King stood for before his death. The media were his ally in the early 60's when he spoke of racism in the South. After the passage of civil rights acts he began challenging the fundamental priorities of the nation. He argued that without economic rights, civil rights means absolutely nothing. By 1967 he was the most prominent opponent of the Vietnam War and U.S. Foreign Policy overall. He spoke about policies in Vietnam, South Africa and Latin America where the United States was killing hundreds of thousands by brutally crushing revolutions by poor peasants. In his speech "Beyond Vietnam" (read here), he attacked U.S. Foreign Policy, expressing solidarity with oppressed people of the world. The very reason why Malcolm X has no place in any national holiday in America as he openly opposed U.S. imperialism with no quarters given for any sort of hypocritical and hollow rhetoric. And yes, he was a Muslim who advocated self-defense at a time when black people were being lynched by the Ku Klux Klan, politicians, policemen and everyone you can think of.

When King began speaking out against the brutality of U.S. foreign policy and the importance of economic rights, the media were absolutely outraged and went at him with every slander they could muster. Domestically, King organized his most militant projects by organizing labor unions and poor people in general. He organized the Poor People's Campaign which intended to march down to Washington, at the Capitol, in nonviolent disobedience. Let us not forget also the FBI's Cointelpro Movement which harassed all civil rights leaders including King. The very same tactics that were being applied to the civil rights leaders we celebrate today are now being used as a tool in the war on terror on ordinary Americans.

So before we start trampling on everything that Martin Luther King Jr. stood for by claiming that he would be jumping up and down just because Obama won, let us reflect a little on the entirety of his life and not just before he became too hard to swallow for the naive and simple-minded. If Barack Obama does not reconcile his rhetoric of "hope" and "change" with actual practice, they will be nothing more than hollow words. He will be nothing more than a hollow leader, barely a shadow of what King actually stood for. Much like when the civil rights acts were referred by King to be hollow without economic rights.

So put your comparisons aside and quit prematurely ejaculating on such an assumption. Until Obama takes real concrete action domestically, addressing issues that affect the poor, and make fundamental changes to U.S. Foreign Policy (beyond paying lip-service to some abstract concept like "Change"), King would roll in his grave every time someone attempts to connect him to Obama in such a manner.

Why clap when he expresses solidarity with his own American people while he goes and stomps on others? Where is the substance? That is not what King stood for and neither should we. Again, we will see.

In the spirit of resistance,
Critical Mood