Glenn Beck in regards to MLK's philosophy: 'I'll talk to Alveda . . .'

Regardless of what is said about Glenn Beck's nonsense today (a blogging friend of mine called it "Whitestock"), the following exchange between he and XM radio with African-American host Joe Madison needs to be remembered.

From ThinkProgress comes the conversation in which the two were talking about Beck's comments accusing President Obama of being a racist. Then the conversation went on an interesting tangent:

MADISON: He’s not a racist?

BECK: What is he? [...] I’ve talked about this at length, and so I’m going to rehash it all. I’ve already said stupid comment, off the top of head. And I said just the other day, an ignorant comment. Now that I really understand how he grew up, where he grew up, what his influences were — it’s more of a liberation theology, a kind of attitude he has. That I immediately interpreted — because I didn’t understand him. His attitude is more of, like Bill Ayers — that America is an oppressor. And I just disagree with that.
[...]

MADISON: You do not believe President Obama is a racist?

BECK: I’ve said this before.

MADISON: A mistake? Was that a mistake?

BECK: Absolutely it was. And I’ve said that before. I misunderstood — this I just said the other day — I misunderstood his philosophy and his theology, which is liberation theology.

MADISON: Which was King’s philosophy. Big time.

BECK: Didn’t know that. I’ll talk to Alveda today about it.

MADISON: Oh, talk to his father. You know who you should talk to? Talk to Walter Faunteroy. Rev. Walter Faunteroy, who grew up with King. That was his philosophy — it was the theological philosophy of social justice.

BECK: Right. I am not a fan of social justice.

MADISON: That’s where we really part. I’m a big fan of social justice.

And THAT, my friends is what we should remember about today's rally. Beck, the man who has placed himself in the footsteps of King, who has implied that he and others like him will "reclaim" the civil rights movement doesn't know a damn thing about King's philosophy.

Beck is so clueless that in order to learn more about King, he is consulting a woman who has no knowledge of anything regarding MLK, who wasn't even present at the 1963 March on Washington, whose link to MLK doesn't lie in working with him, marching with him, or consulting with him, but that only that she is his niece.

And that, my friends is the essence of Glenn Beck's hucksterism. I can't wait to see if and how he can spin his way out of this one.

Related posts:

Alveda's scheme? Reap off of MLK's dream

Alveda King's attempted claiming of the MLK legacy is sad

Alveda's scheme? Reap off of MLK's dream

In regards to Glenn Beck's rally today, one twitter post stands out in my mind (and I am printing it exactly as it is spelled):

To everyone calling the #glennbeck #828 event a gathering of KKK raciest: are you calling Alveda King, niece of MLK, a raciest as well?

The twitter post proves the point of a post I wrote yesterday. Alveda King is at Beck's rally as a token, a bastardization of King's legacy manipulated to blunt appropriate questions of the racial motives of Beck and many of the people attending today's rally.

And a recent expose by Daniel Denvir of Salon magazine exposes Alveda King's history of not only desecrating the King name for her own purposes but also a few more revelations:

She is the head of an organization, King for Life, which has a defunct website and allegedly one staff member.

Her press literature calls her a "doctor," but her degree is merely honorary from St. Anselm College, a Catholic school in Manchester, N.H. What's worse, Alveda can't remember can't recall why she was awarded this degree:

She sued Paramount Pictures, charging that Eddie Murphy stole her idea to make his movie Coming To America. Needless to say, she lost the case.

She was vocal against an AIDS Hospice in her neighborhood.

And needless to say, her relationship with MLK's widow, Coretta Scott King hasn't been all that cordial:

In 1994, she released a letter condemning Coretta Scott King’s support for abortion and gay rights, saying it would bring "curses on your house and your people ... cursing, vexation, rebuke in all that you put your hand to, sickness will come to you and your house, your bloodline will be cut off."

To call Alveda King a sellout would be totally missing the point. I think she is worse than a sellout. She is a woman with a product (i.e. the King name) who is willing to trade it for prominence and spotlight even if it's with those who stand against what MLK stood for.

But what she is offering is something that should never be sold because you can't put a price tag on the struggle for equality against the forces of oppression.

And MLK's legacy will never be soiled by anything, especially a greedy relative who has done nothing to earn that legacy than to walk around talking about how "she has his blood in her veins."

So I say let Alveda reap the benefits of getting her name out there on the backs of those who really did suffer and die for equality.

It's her soul she is going to have to give an account for. That is if she has one after all of that spotlight.

Related post:

Alveda King's attempted claiming of the MLK legacy is sad