It’s happening. I’m talking about the white-washing of Nelson Mandela’s legacy.
Journalist Bob Herbert spoke to this phenomenon in a recent article on Mandela. He cautioned us to not let the mainstream turn Mandela “into a lovable, platitudinous cardboard character whose commitment to peace and willingness to embrace enemies could make everybody feel good” as they have attempted to do with Dr. Martin Luther King.
The white mainstream media and other institutions would have us believe that Dr. King was a mere dreamer. In addition to King’s resistance to racism and economic oppression, he publicly stated his opposition to many U.S. policies like the Vietnam War (against the advice of his confidantes), the death penalty, poverty and other economic inequities. Yet every January and April, we get bombarded with selected excerpts from his famous “I Have a Dream” speech that downplay King’s understanding about capitalism and its impact on the masses of Americans, especially black folks. Read more.
