Bruce Jenket: MLK didn't advocate for violence or destruction of property

To The Daily Sun,

“I have a dream”. If you are my age or older, you know who said that. If not here is a link (https://bit.ly/2ZQUgiy). It’s the speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr on August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. I would print it here but it’s more than 500 words. The most inspiring line (to me) was “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.”

Watching the destruction of so many of the major cities in this country over this last week, I think Dr. King would be heartbroken by the lack of “character” shown by the rioters in those cities.

Here is another quote from that same speech few recall, but is equally important: “But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again, and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”

Dr. king didn’t advocate for violence or destruction of property. So where is that coming from today? I believe it’s being fueled by the media. I recall the prejudice of the 1960s and 1970s as a “southern” issue. In the north it existed but not much different from other ethnic prejudices. Here we are 50 years later and the pendulum has swung the other way. A single injustice turns into mayhem where hundreds of thousands of innocent bystanders have their property and livelihood destroyed by roving mobs. Worse yet is the loss of life, with police now being targets. Here is an ABC news headline: “Small-town police chief killed as officers in 3 cities wounded during violence at George Floyd protests” (https://abcn.ws/2Ubf94G).

How is this justice? How many police officers needed to be killed or injured before the left is satisfied? How many more neighborhoods need to be burned or businesses looted before their hate is quenched? Will reducing police forces result in increased safety in the inner cities? Both left and right agree that George Floyd’s death was needless and tragic. It should be a great unifier not a divider. But the left-leaning media will not have it. They are drunk after drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. They downplay the death and destruction levied by antifa and BLM as justified under the guise of social justice. I pray that another enlightened soul will step forward today to fulfill Dr. King’s dream.

Bruce Jenket

Moultonborough