this post was submitted on 22 Jul 2025
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MeanwhileOnGrad
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If you have a problem with this, I think you'll hate Malcolm X. Really, i was just trying to have a conversation and found out OP was screenshotting and sharing here. So if anyone would like to engage with the actual content of Malcolm X's letter to the grassroots please continue the thread. Im open to rational conversation.
https://lemmy.world/post/33270073
Edit: i suck at links. This one might be better https://lemmy.cafe/comment/12584550
You realize that MLK was literally speaking up against racism, the Vietnam War, economic justice, to the point that they shot him, right?
They only have a little handful of in-broad-daylight public figure bullets they can use every decade without people starting to get all up in arms about it, and out of all the people in the US, they spent one on him. He was saying that the whole of race relations was a sideshow for the deeply rooted economic injustice that every working man was facing, we need to stop the wars, stop the exploitation of everyone black and white... do you think they shot him because he was doing too good a job of sidelining everyone's righteous anger with these horizon-spanning marches, and they wanted more of a challenge with him out of the picture and the blacks better able to organize once he was gone?
What the fuck are you talking about?
The whole US media was saying he was a communist, a rioter, he was going to burn down the cities and ruin everything...
Why the fuck would I hate Malcolm X if I like MLK Jr? What the fuck are you even talking about? We need Matt Taibbi in here to come up with new metaphors for how little sense this all makes.
I was just quoting Malcolm X letter to the grassroots where he said MLK was working to keep people "on the plantation". Please read the link comment in my edit on the original.
Edit : link https://lemmy.cafe/comment/12584550
Okay. Here's the whole non-excerpted speech BTW:
https://www.themelaninproject.org/tmpblog/2021/7/12/message-to-the-grassroots-by-malcom-x-full-transcript
Sounds like a fine critique. I don't really agree with it, but sure, they were both working for racial justice.
Personally I think there was a reason why MLK was killed probably by the government, and Malcolm X wasn't. Sure, maybe if X had lived, they would have shot him too, I don't know. And they probably knew it was coming and didn't try to stop it. But they definitely thought MLK was dangerous enough to kill. Whatever Malcolm X thought about it and had to say, the government themselves definitely weren't happy like "oh we gotta keep this guy around so he can keep everyone on the plantation for us."
Thank you for engaging with the substance of the argument! Personally I think you probably need both. If there is no unhinged element it doesn't make the nonviolent one seem that threatening, but honestly I go back and forth.
I did find it fascinating that contemporaries of MLK has such disparaging views of him.
I also think Malcolm was probably killed by the government or at least the government used the Nation of Islam against him, but i freely admit that is somewhat conspiratorial and we won't know, at least until all the files are released.
It wasn't "his contemporaries." It was Malcolm X, apparently.
His liberal contemporaries, sure, they were constantly telling him to tone it down or that it wasn't the time, or that he was making it difficult for them to make "progress." His civil rights contemporaries, by and large, were pretty in favor of what he was doing. Sometimes they even showed up and walked around with him in some little groupings, in public, just to subtly send a message that they might have been in favor of what he was doing.
I have no idea why you are going out of your way to shit on MLK in this particular way. It has been an interesting little window in the workings of some people on Lemmy. I think, honestly, that some of it comes from feeling comfortable expressing opinions and assertions about things where you honestly don't know even a vague approximation of what the fuck you're talking about.
I actually studied this era and movement at the masters level and wrote papers related to the topic. Lol.
Im not shitting on MLK as much as I am quoting Malcolm X. Everyone (not you, just generally speaking) always acts like black people are a monolith and always agree about who is a good guy or that to be black and disagree with the DNC or MLK makes you an republican or an uncle tom and thats it. There are actually critiques of MLK and DNC from the far left too.
I feel like it was interesting that this perspective was completely lost to history. If it means people think im an idiot but learn more about what actually happened thats fine me.
Theeeeere it is lmao. Starting from MLK was a creative and interesting choice, sort of a new spin on "this leftist person you like is actually BAD because he's WORKING FOR THE MAN and as a good leftist I don't think we should support him." I certainly have seen that one, but not about a political figure that's been dead for over 60 years.
In any case I think we're done here. At least it explains why you follow closely with the pattern of:
Like I say... we're done here. Have fun with your engagement on Lemmy. I hope you find some people who really take you super super seriously and listen closely to what you are sharing with them, to help inform them fully about this urgent point of view they need to understand.
Wow that's a creative take on my thoughts. I just hadn't got to talk to anyone normal about this and didn't realize it work be taken that way. So my apologies I guess. Didn't mean to tar your hero or anything. I guess thats definitely one logical way to read that though. I can't fault you for reaching that conclusion.
Thanks engaging with me, genuinely.
Wait until I find out he cheated on his wife. My fucking head will probably explode. Don't tell me, though, I'm super simple minded when I look at figures I admire in history.
I also love hyperbole. I hope you don't really think im saying you are simple minded or anything. I just wanted to have a conversation online, but forgot how difficult it was. Just speaking of my general experiences, im not saying all dems or all white people or anything.
In my mind, I don't care about MLK or Malcolm X. I mean they are both fine, whatever... I don't not care about them either. Its more about their ideas. In my mind, figuring out why the civil rights bill passed when it did is a very important question with implications about the proper means of political activism in modern day America. As in what was the immediate precursor, what was the "tipping point."
The narrative I was told growing up and in school simply didnt align with the series of events Malcolm described. I assumed other people might find that interesting too, but instead I think I remembered why I don't engage online.
You are the only one who gave a reasonable reply that showed you actually somewhat read it. But I guess I don't really know how to succinctly say and get to that point so I pissed you off too. So my bad. Ill stop before I make it worse and go back to my corner before I was screenshotted and shared in this community.