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Comment by leftyted | Hacker News Reader

I think comparisons to the civil rights movements of the past are valid and I agree that current movements compare unfavorably to the past ones.

I'll just repeat that I think it's a significant mistake to make analogies to Nazis or Maoists.

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MLK is being used disingenuously by the right[1]. He was treated very similar to BLM during his activism and his death was openly celebrated by some political figures on the right. BLM has very consciously decided to foster a leaderless movement to prevent the vilification tactics used by right wing media to discredit movements (see AOC, Hillary, Kaepernick, etc..)[2]

[1] https://therecount.com/watch/revisionist-history-martin-luth... [2] https://www.politico.com/news/2020/07/22/black-lives-matter-...

The downvotes should be sufficient, but I think you are misinformed if you think the modern right’s perspective is the same as the 60’s right.

I don’t know anything about the perceived violence of MLK- but three quotes are in my brain on him:

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

His legacy is his ideas- not the lens through which they were perceived. He had success because his ideas were compassionate and strong. A YouTube video that tries to slap a narrative on how he was perceived then to justify your current bigotry is irrelevant compared to the quality of his ideas.

Appreciate the civil response.

I think I approach agreeing with you that it’s bad to make these analogies- but I don’t know of alternatives that clearly communicate the perceived potential for conflict.

Thanks for helping me understand your perspective.

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