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James Earl Ray Did Not Kill
Martin Luther King.
The shot from his Remington rifle
did not kill Martin Luther King.
Classism killed Martin Luther King.
Racism killed Martin Luther King.
Capitalism killed Martin Luther King.
The indifference and privilege
of being white in America
killed Martin Luther King.
James Earl Ray?
That shot from his rifle?
They are nothing more
than an increasingly white-washed symptom
of the grievous and self-important realities
that killed the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am not asking you to feel guilty.
I am not asking you to prove me wrong.
I am not ask you to suffer shame.
I am asking you to do something.
I am asking you to do something about it.
Do something about the classism, racism, capitalism, indifference, and white privilege that killed him.
Because...
Because to this day, they continue to kill him.
He may have a new face.
He may have a new name.
He may have a new gender.
But they kill him.
Again.
Again.
And again.
I do not ask this of you
on behalf of him.
I have no place to do that.
I do not ask this of you
with a call to any particular religious precept.
After all, while he was a Christian minister himself,
Christianity both played a roll in his death
and contained those who celebrated his demise.
I ask this of you, I ask this of me,
because it is the right thing to do.
And, “The time is always right to do what is right.”
I ask this because
I have seen what the course
of not doing enough about it
has done.
I do not want my children
to have to live in that miserable reality.
I do not want to force them
to fight the battles
that my ancestors and I have created.
I do not want my friends
to keep dying because of
classism, racism, capitalism,
indifference, and white privilege.
It is selfish of me, I know.
But, frankly, I do not care if it is selfish.
Because, it is humane.
It recognizes the individual dignity
and value of all people.
So, please.
Please.
Please, do something.
Do something about it.
Because doing nothing...
is unthinkable.
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