Photo: Charlie Kirk
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Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA was American Renaissance’s 2019 “White Renegade of the Year.” That year, the “Groyper Wars” embarrassed Mr. Kirk by asking pointed questions about race and religion at his events. Turning Point also cut ties with Ashley St. Clair only because she was in a photograph with Nick Fuentes. Still, Charlie Kirk and TPUSA were no worse than any other conservative group or figure such as Steve Bannon. All of Conservatism, Inc. followed the tiresome ritual of praising Martin Luther King Jr. every January.
Things have changed. Charlie Kirk is leading a campaign against MLK. More accurately, he’s telling the truth. MLK was not a conservative, not a patriot, and not a good Christian, despite being a minister (ordained at age 19). “MLK was awful,” said Mr. Kirk. “He’s not a good person. He said one good thing he didn’t actually believe.”
The “one good thing” is from MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech, in which he “dreamed” of a nation in which people are judged “not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” He didn’t want this. He wanted race preferences and socialism. His Christianity was for show. Generations of conservatives were eager to believe MLK was really a conservative — whether from delusion or the compulsion to claim the approval of a black saint.
When America had a dominant white majority, the fake image of King could have been a noble lie. America could pursue a “colorblind” ideal because there were enough whites to sustain the country. Token, high-profile blacks could flatter whites that they were “getting past” race. Now, as the white majority plummets, race relations are getting worse. The more concessions whites make, the more non-whites despise them — rightly so.
CNN and the Smithsonian have published articles about King’s unpopularity near the end of his life. This is probably to shame whites by explaining that back then, whites didn’t appreciate him. King is considered a “hero” today because the schools, media, and politicians gave us the myth of a man who fought for “equal rights.”
Some on the American Right now know better. Charlie Kirk may have honestly changed his mind, but he’s also feeling heat from young right-wingers who refuse to go along with Conservatism, Inc. slogans. The “Groyper Wars” may have been the most successful American right-wing youth activism in the last decade.
Who was MLK?
A myth has been created and it has grown totally out of control
While he was alive most people disliked him, yet today he is the most honored, worshipped, even deified person of the 20th century
Today we are going to tell the truth and explain how this myth was…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 15, 2024
I haven’t even done my show yet on MLK Jr. and already it’s clear to me that I have found the sacred cow of modern America.
Ask yourself, why is exposing the flaws of MLK’s life and character — something he said we should judge others by — so controversial?
Has America become more colorblind, and merit based the more we have worshipped King?
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 15, 2024
The deification of MLK and his proto-DEI ideology marks the exact moment that the progress of black America goes sideways. Their cities disintegrate. Their families collapse. Educational progress stagnates. They become enormously dependent on government support. Crime explodes…
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 15, 2024
King’s legacy IS the instillation of a system of mandatory race consciousness and racial discrimination at the federal level which people making this argument always conveniently ignore 1/???? https://t.co/XKue43YM2m pic.twitter.com/02nJ5JkjP4
— Auron MacIntyre (@AuronMacintyre) January 15, 2024
Why has this happened? Aside from the impact commentators such as Nick Fuentes have had on the younger generation, VDARE.com has plugged away at the King Myth for years, and we have for decades. Several key books have had a big impact. In 1994, Theodore Pappas of Chronicles magazine wrote the definite account of King’s reckless plagiarism.
More recently, Chris Caldwell’s The Age of Entitlement argued that the Civil Rights Act was a second founding that largely repealed the Constitution. Richard Hanania’s The Origins of Woke isn’t as hostile to the Civil Rights Act but argues that the result of the movement (intended or not) was the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion nightmare conservatives hate. These books have convinced at least some conservatives and libertarians that DEI is not a perversion of “civil rights,” but their inevitable outcome.
Al Sharpton says that we need to make sure MLK Jr.’s dream stays alive by fighting for DEI and affirmative action. pic.twitter.com/ruJmHaJvps
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) January 16, 2024
Anti-MLK is becoming normalized as a conservative position. Unthinkable a few years ago.
For good reason! Put aside that he was a plagiarist and woman disrespecter. If you believe in markets and color blindness he isn’t your guy
A free marketplace of ideas is making that clear pic.twitter.com/DYREDYLwTy
— Richard Hanania (@RichardHanania) January 16, 2024
This is progress. If the real America is to be saved, the revolution waged against it by the misnamed civil rights movement must be undone. “In the new nation and the new creed of which the King holiday serves as symbol,” wrote Sam Francis, “all institutions, values, heroes, and symbols that violate the dogma of equality are dethroned and must be eradicated.” Our first step: dethrone King.
