50 years later

Dr. King told us he had been to the mountain top and had seen the promised land and although in an eerily prescient moment he also said he didn't think he would make it to that land of racial equality, he did say his followers would.   Tragically, 50 years ago today, King became a civil rights martyr and an icon to his generation.  He was slain by a racist in Memphis as he led garbage workers in a strike against the city which had forced them to work for peanuts and denied them safe equipment.  After the passage of civil rights legislation in 1965, King moved on to oppose the Viet-Nam war and advocate for social justice.  While rightly credited with being the catalyst for redress of racist policies, he was vilified when he advocated for equal pay.  He pointed out that poor whites had more in common with blacks than with their employers.   This was a dangerous message and I wonder if Dr. King's legend might have been tarnished by Wall St. if he had more years to drive home his message of solidarity.   So, in 2018 we have conservatives who would have opposed him in life singing his praises as long as he is comfortably deceased and no longer questioning their gospel of exploitation.