What can the rest of the world take away from the US celebration of MLK?

Occasionally, I hear from people here in Europe that America’s issues with systemic racism are really that country’s alone.

But the history informing these issues, in particular the role of Martin Luther King, Jr., carries meaning for anyone who values basic human decency.

Today’s US holiday celebrating MLK comes at a time when some of his accomplishments are under threat, and his legacy is in dispute.

Many people seem to want the honoring of his work limited to sharing feel-good quotes on social media, and they tend to mischaracterize him as a passive sage. But that ignores the fact that a popular store of quotes wouldn’t exist at all if he and his allies hadn’t succeeded in eliciting the violent reaction of white bigots he rightfully castigated.

It’s maybe more important than ever to retain a clear window into this past, to inform the future. The voting rights Dr. King engaged in militant nonviolent direct action to help secure for people of color in the US are now under threat, for example – reflecting a trend in other parts of world where democracy is giving way to authoritarianism.

Efforts to educate young people about Martin Luther King’s struggles are also being imperiled, in ways that smack of the whitewashing of history that occurs in many countries to avoid uncomfortable details.

Not long after Tennessee banned the teaching of “critical race theory” last year, a complaint was filed with the state’s department of education objecting to classroom texts including a retelling of the March on Washington and Dr. King’s legendary “I Have a Dream” speech.

The group that filed the complaint in Tennessee suggested Dr. King would’ve supported its effort. “Targeting elementary age children with daily lessons on fighting past injustices as if they were occurring in present day,” it argued, “is an affront to the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.”

Misinterpretations of his life’s work have spurred family members to chime in. Dr. King's teenage granddaughter recently addressed the ways he is (or is not) discussed now. “All kids and all adults,” she said, really need to “take some time and learn about the movement.”

That movement was propelled by Martin Luther King’s drive and fearlessness, and it helped point the US in a better direction. He stood behind President Lyndon Johnson during the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the brutality endured by his allies stirred Johnson to sign the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – even as the FBI was steadily feeding criticisms of him to the president.

Dr. King also focused on economic justice in ways that resonate globally. When his life drew to a tragic close in Memphis in 1968, he was in that city to help fight for the rights of striking sanitation workers.

According to the split labor market theory, the exploitation of Black sanitation workers in Memphis was only serving to worsen tensions with their white peers – who were slightly less underpaid and mistreated. It’s a phenomenon that’s cropped up everywhere from Japan to the Palestinian Territories, and is yet another bridge between Martin Luther King’s work in the US and the outside world.

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