*Author’s note: This was written by a white person of privilege, living in a society of institutionalized racism and white supremacy. As a white member of this culture, I receive material, emotional, and psychological benefits from this unjust arrangement of power, and have undoubtedly internalized this racism. For me to speak on race is to speak from an undeserved position of white privilege; despite my efforts, I do not believe that I can fully disentangle myself from that privilege when speaking about it. The legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. means many different things to many different people. We evoke his name when speaking about everything from civil disobedience and direct action to racial inequality and oppression. He is rightly regarded and remembered as a hero for his dedication to justice and for his courage.
However, the celebration of MLK and his legacy is often twisted and subtly reformed by white members of this culture. Rather than remembering the oppression (at the white, bloodstained hands of this culture) against people of color and their strength in working to overcome it, the white-constructed narratives surrounding the Civil Rights movement and MLK often attempt to define our modern world as a “post-racial” one.