Top U.S. civil rights leaders accuse Beck of hijacking King's "I Have a Dream" legacy, plan counter-rally
News blogs, sports blogs, entertainment blogs, and more from Philly.com, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News.
Top U.S. civil rights leaders accuse Beck of hijacking King's "I Have a Dream" legacy, plan counter-rally
Some of the nation's top civil rights leaders are angrily accusing right-wing media star Glenn Beck of "hijacking" the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech by planning to rally his conservative forces at the same Lincoln Memorial site on the anniversary date of Aug. 28 -- and so they are planning a counter-rally and march of their own.
"Beck is hijacking the imagery and symbolism of August 28 and the Lincoln Memorial to promote an agenda of intolerance," said Marc H. Morial (pictured at left), the former New Orleans mayor who is now president and CEO of the National Urban League, one of the counter-rally organizers, said earlier tonight in a telephone interview.
The Morial-led Urban League is teaming with well-known activists such as the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network in planning a "mass rally" and march that will begin at a high school in Northeast Washington. Morial said that one of King's surviving children, Martin Luther King III, is also on board.Less than three miles away, the Fox News Channel host and former half-term Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin are headlining a heavily promoted rally called "Restoring Honor."
Morial said in the phone interview that civil rights leaders believe that "Beck is deliberately trying to poke a stick in our eye, or kick sand in our faces" by holding the rally on the 47th anniversary and at the spot of King's most famous speech, at a massive rally to lobby support for what would become the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that ended legal segregation in America.
Beck claimed earlier this month on his radio show that one of his goals is to "reclaim the civil right movement," saying that it should be about individual liberties and not social justice or supporting undocumented immigration, which he called "modern day slavery." But as Beck's popularity has risen since launching his Fox News program the same week that Barack Obama became the nation's first African-American president -- angering many with attacks linking Obama to socialism or communism and also triggering outrage with his comment that the president has "a deep-seated hatred for white people."
Sharpton (pictured at right) couldn't be reached last night, but he was recently quoted telling the National Newspaper Publishers Association in New York that Beck is attempting to rewrite American history on King and civil rights, and that he's hoping for a large crowd to counteract the conservative talker.
"[W]e’ve been traveling all over this country because there is no way in the world that I am going to allow him to have more people there than us," Sharpton was quoted by Blackvoicenews.com. "I hope every black person in the country will help us to challenge this.Everybody’s got to be in Washington. We can’t let them hijack Dr. King’s dream.”
Morial said in the interview that Beck and some of the growing right-wing groups that support him, such as the Tea Party and the Beck-inspired 9.12 Project, want to take America back to a time before King's speech and the enactment of civil rights laws and to show a face of the nation that is not the multi-cultural country we've become in the 21st Century.
"His [Beck's] vision of America is a vision of America from yesterday and our vision is an America of tomorrow that builds on yesterday," Morial said. I asked Morial about the oft-repeated plea from Tea Party activists that "I want my country back" and he replied, "It's cold. It's not just their country -- it's our country."
According to the online report from NNPA convention in New York, the national NAACP is also on board with the Aug. 28 counter-rally and is also working with labor unions on a second march on Washington for Oct. 2. Morial said that activists want to encourage the federal government to do more in support of jobs as the national unemployment rate continues to hover near 10 percent, with jobless rates that are higher for blacks and other minorities, and also to improve public education.
The purpose of the Beck rally across town is somewhat vague. When it was first announced by Beck months ago, he suggested it would be a political rally as well as the launch of a book that he called "The Plan" that would be an 100-year blueprint for America -- but the nature of the Aug. 28 event radically changed after Beck teamed with a highly-rated charity, the Special Operations Warrior Fund, to help raise some of the $2 million he says is needed to stage a rally at the Lincoln Memorial (Beck says he is donating the first $1 million himself.)
Now, the "Restoring Honor" rally is billed is as "a non-political, non-partisan event will recognize our First Amendment rights and honor the service members who fight to protect those freedoms." Beck is hoping to defray $1 million of the rally costs through an aggressive campaign seeking $1 million through the Florida-based charity, which normally fund scholarships for children of soldiers killed or wounded in action. (Beck has said any donations above the $1 million will go to the scholarships.)
In addition to Palin, Beck has said the three-hour rally will include a mini-concert by country artist Jo Dee Messina and decorated veteran Marcus Luttrell.
One thing that Aug. 28 in the nation's capital will not feature, according to Morial, is any kind of direct confrontation between his group and the Beck rally. "There's no interest on our side in a confrontation," he said, "other than a confrontation of ideas."
God forbid Glen Beck and Palin host a rally against oppressive government. All you liberals must love a totalitarian government if your crying about this rally. Whah! And I didn't realize that the NAACP own Aug 28th. Political dissent and activism is applauded, unless, of course, you are a conservative. Then you are just a racist.— Dumpy1133
"First of all, we don't have a Black President in the sense that our President is the product of the typical Black ghetto." . . . . . True enough. Of course, that means the only White president we've had is Bill Clinton.- "but way to put Beck's words into skills post and attack a strawman." . . . . Yeah, how silly to put Beck's words in a post defending Beck's words.
- MSL, where does skills defend Beck's words? Try real hard, counselor.— RG
- and the Beck obsession continues...— Tom813
- "Try real hard, counselor." . . . . . Okay, so Skills really agrees that Beck is a racist and bigot. My bad.
- This is not going to go well. I hope there are plenty of cameras to catch all the evil blue eyed devils using racial epithets while all of the angelic and innocent Al "Tawanna Brawley" Sharpton lemmings pray for solidarity and unity. Should be a great show.— phillyjeffsr
I daresay that Beck has more in common with King than the race hustlers.— rudytbone
///Of course, that means the only White president we've had is Bill Clinton./// Harry Truman doesn't count? Born and raised on a Midwest farm, can't get much whiter. Ronald Reagan, born and raised in the midwest, too, in an apartment above a variety store in Illinois. John Adams, a farmer who educated himself and became a lawyer. Should I go on?- Scariest thread at Attytood. Ever.— Talking point sleuth
- "Should I go on?" . . . . . . I had no idea farms were ghettos, but please do.
Comment removed.- "Okay, so Skills really agrees that Beck is a racist and bigot." Keep up with them strawmen. Skills mentions Beck once, in the context of what does Al Sharpton have against him. He then gives his own opinion that you later conflate with Beck's comment instead of addressing skills original point.— RG
- Comment removed.
- ---}}} John Adams, a farmer who educated himself and became a lawyer. {{{--- Bucky does make a good point. Because being a farmer, educating oneself, and being a lawyer are uniquely white characteristics.— Talking point sleuth
- Andrew Sullivan
- Blinq
- Blogorrhea
- Blonde Sagacity
- Free Republic
- Instapundit
- James Taranto
- ScrappleFace
- The Corner
- Buzzmachine
- Eat the Press
- Editor and Publisher
- Media (Huffington Post)
- Media Bloodhound
- Mickey Kaus
- Pressthink
- Romenesko
- The Inksniffer
- A List of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago
- Above Average Jane
- BlankBaby
- Citizen Mom
- Keystone Blog
- Metroblogging Philadelphia
- Phawker
- Philadelphia - America's Hometown
- Philadelphia Will Do
- Philebrity
- Philly Future
- Phillyblog
- Phillyist
- The Clog
- The Next Mayor
- Welcome to Phillyville
- Young Philly Politics
- Afro-Netizen
- All-Spin Zone
- Atrios
- Bad Attitudes
- Billmon
- Booman Tribune
- CorrenteWire
- Fables of the Reconstruction
- iFlipFlop
- Kiko's House
- MyDD
- Philly (Dragonballyee)
- Rowhouse Logic
- Slacktivist
- Suburban Guerilla
- Tattered Coat
- upyernoz
- AmericaBlog
- Andy Borowitz
- BuzzFlash
- Crooks and Liars
- Cursor
- Daily Kos
- David Sirota
- Drudge Report
- Echidne of the Snakes
- Fire Dog Lake
- Glenn Greenwald
- Hullabaloo
- Jesus' General
- Jon Swift
- Josh Marshall
- Juan Cole
- Kevin Drum
- Mad Kane
- Majikthise
- Matthew Yglesias
- Oliver Willis
- Raw Story
- Swing State Project
- Talk Left
- Taylor Marsh
- TBogg
- The Carpetbagger Report
- Think Progress
- War and Piece
- Wonkette
- A Citizen's Blog
- Balls, Sticks and Stuff
- Beer Leaguer
- Dick Polman
- Phillies Nation
- Philling Station
- Shallow Center
- The 700 Level
- The Good Phight
