What Do 1965 and 2020 Have in Common? Slander…

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By Marlena Ryan

When the protests and riots started after George Floyd’s murder, one of the things I noticed on my Facebook feed from several of my conservative friends was Martin Luther King, JR. quotes. With each article I would post about the protests, I would see one of these quotes shortly after. And more than once did I see this quote, “Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” While that quote is true, it seemed like some people were holding up Martin Luther King, JR. as the standard for how good black people should go about seeking change. But did you know that Martin Luther King JR. was not always viewed as the standard for how black people should seek changes in our society? If we do not pay attention to history, we are bound to repeat it. Sadly, the way many conservatives treated the civil rights leaders and the movement in 1965 is quite similar to the way the Black Lives Matter movement is being treated today in 2020.

The picture that is painted today of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s is not the way it was always perceived. While Martin Luther King, JR. is regarded today as a hero who fought against inequality, in 1960s, the civil rights movement was often described as being run by communists, with King being depicted as a communist and as anti-American. In 1964, the head of the FBI, Edgar Hoover, said during a press conference that Martin Luther King, JR. was, “the most notorious liar in the United States” and “one of the lowest characters in the country.” And the National Review, a conservative magazine, called King, “the source of violence in others”, in 1965. Dr. Will Herberg, who wrote an editorial for the National Review in the same year, claimed that the civil rights leaders promotion of civil disobedience “though done with the best intentions had nonetheless taught hundreds of thousands of Negroes that it is perfectly all right to break the law and defy constitute authority if you are a Negro-with-a-grievance.” While it was widely known that Martin Luther King, JR. was a believer in non-violence as a means of promoting civil rights, he and the civil rights movement were blamed for the Watts Riots which took place in South Central Los Angeles, CA in 1965.

The Watts Riots happened in response to the arrest of a black motorist named Marquette Frye, by a white California Highway Patrolman, for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. Rioting quickly ensued and lasted for six days, resulting in more than 40 million dollars’ worth of property damage. Rioters looted and damaged stores, burned and overturned cars, and white citizens driving through the area were pulled from their cars and beaten. The National Guard was sent to the area, and curfew zones were also implemented as attempts to restore order. These events resulted in the deaths of 34 people, more than 1,000 reported injuries, and nearly 4,000 arrests. The Watts Riots were the biggest and most expensive act of rebellion during the Civil Rights era.

While it was argued by some that the rioting was mainly the work of outside agitators, the police chief of Los Angeles, William H. Parker, publicly blamed the civil rights movement, saying, “You cannot keep telling them that they are being abused and mistreated without expecting them to react.” However, a civil rights leader by the name of Baynard Rustin, who felt that the riots were ultimately the result of black people not feeling a part of “American society”, was quoted by the New York Times in 1965 as saying, “The major job we have is to find them work, decent housing, education, training, so they feel a part of the structure of society. People who feel a part of the structure do not attack it.” While an investigation requested by the Governor of California Pat Brown, showed that the rioting was in fact the result of the community’s grievances over unemployment rates, substandard schools and housing, and a result of the tensions between the police and the community, ultimately, government officials failed the community, and the grievances that the Watts community had continued to exist.

55 years later, black people in America are still dealing with a lot of the same issues.

There is still tension that exists between the black community and police officers. Schools and housing in primarily black cities are still often substandard, and high unemployment numbers continue, especially during the pandemic. And the calls for change have brought slander once again to a movement that is seeking equality. The black lives matter movement is being portrayed by conservative media as being Marxist and anti-American. And those like myself who support the movement are also being labeled as people who want to destroy America. In June of this year, Fox News host Tucker Carlson called the black lives matter movement, “an insidious attempt to end liberal democracy and challenge Western civilization itself.” The Federalist, a web based magazine, published articles in which the black lives matter movement is described as being, “a loose Marxist organization with a clear radical agenda”, and is also a “Marxist scam that uses your natural fear of social rejection to force conformity and compliance with its goals.”

In 2020, Martin Luther King JR. is widely admired by people across the country and even around the world. Most people would probably be surprised to know that King was regarded as anti-American and that people thought the civil rights movement was tied to communism. But, with the Black Lives Matter movement, there are people choosing to listen to propaganda and slander over listening to facts and the frustrations coming from the black community. Why slander a group seeking not superiority but equality? Why call either one of these groups anti-American? It is the quickest way to get people to dismiss the message. And as news media shows footage of buildings being looted and damaged, and cars being burned, white Americans being beaten by black people, we are hearing the same blame and the same arguments that were made after the Watts riots in 1965. Yes, there are outside agitators causing a lot of pain and destruction. But perhaps there are still black people who feel like they are not a part of American society. Perhaps, some black people still feel forgotten and left behind. The black lives matter movement is getting blamed for the violence, the rioting, and the looting that we are all seeing on social media and on tv. But, if the movement is not calling for acts of violence to be committed, why should it be blamed for the acts of some? And why should a societal problem not be addressed because of the wrong acts of some?

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