We’re not exactly sure why MLK’s daughter has decided to go after Abraham Lincoln. After all, her dad was clearly an admirer of the man who signed the Emancipation Proclamation. But she made some odd comments recently and Glenn took some time on radio today to comment.
Beatrice King said, “But as I close, I close with the recognition that Daddy is standing. Lincoln is seated. Lincoln remembered for signing the Declaration of Independence.”
“I tend to remember that Abraham Lincoln had a little something to do with the end of slavery,” Glenn said.
While Glenn believed that her comments were likely an honest mistake, he did take it as a moment to discuss recent efforts to paint MLK as a socialist and a communist.
“I also happen to believe that Martin Luther King was not a communist,” Glenn said.
"Where do I get that? Quote: ‘I decided to spend my spare time reading Karl Marx and try to understand the appeal of communism for many people. For the first time I carefully scrutinized Das Kapital and the Communist Manifesto. In reading such communist writings, I drew certain conclusions that have remained with me as convictions to this day. First off, I reject their materialist interpretation of history. Communism, avowedly secularistic and materialistic has no place for God. Dr. Martin Luther King.’”
“What do you think? Did he sound like a communist to you?” Glenn asked.
Glenn also talked about MLK’s own comments regarding Lincoln. Glenn read:
Martin Luther King, July 1957: We look back across the years and we see a great man like Abraham Lincoln. We see the great contribution that he made to humanity and to history. You must never forget that up until he was 45 years old, Abraham Lincoln was one of the most discouraged men that ever lived. He became interested in the slavery issue and he gave his life to that cause. He became embedded in this cause and because of his being embedded in this cause, in giving himself to this cause and losing himself into this cause, he became a great man.
“That sounds like somebody who stood, doesn't it?” Pat said.