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this post was submitted on 10 Jun 2025
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See if you can spot the difference between Bernie's statement and MLK's:
I don't think it's at all unreasonable to criticize Bernie for leaving that second part unsaid. Not to mention the point Hasan was making, which was picking this moment to talk about nonviolence - at a time when Trump is preemptively painting the protests as violent and insurrectionist - affirms Trump's framing and justifies police escalation.
I'm with Hasan here, this was tone-deaf of Bernie, if not completely hypocritical.
Bonus MLK quote:
MLK Jr.'s speech on riots being the voice of the unheard was powerful, and stabbed at the heart of a complex issue.
But a year before that speech, here's what he had to say about the Watts riots:
Uhhh, yes, he did say that.... While addressing black americans living in the slums of Chicago, pleading with them not to "strike out with revenge against white people for the many wrongs perpetrated against you and yours".
I don't really think there's any comparison between the Watts riots and the nature of the LA protests, not even close.
I didn't compare them. You did.
MLK wasn't discussing Watts in that quote, he was speaking very broadly about placing emphasis on the conditions that lead to riots instead of the riots themselves, and specifically on how much condemnation to place on them vs the conditions that lead to them.
In yours, he's speaking directly to people who are living in a slum where violent retribution was a commonly understood feeling, and who had every reason to feel justified in lashing out in revenge. He specifically uses Watts as an example of an extreme expression of that revenge.
The LA protestors are not lashing out in revenge - I don't think that quote, in the context in which it was given, applies to the protestors in LA. And I don't think MLK's thoughts on Watts in particular have any applicability to what's happening in LA, but I do think it's worthwhile for Sanders to take a lesson from MLK on where to place his condemnations.