http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/HL0908/S00001.htm
Obama Says Dr. King Paved His Way But King Would Reject Obama's Wars
03 August 2009
by Sherwood Ross
In his rousing speech to the NAACP, President Obama praised the civil
rights leaders of the past whose sacrifices "began the journey that
has led me" (to the White House). He neglected to mention, however,
that the majority of those civil rights leaders, most notably Rev.
Martin Luther King Jr., opposed the war in Viet Nam and, if they were
alive today, likely would decry his escalation of the war in Afghanistan.
"Painting himself as the beneficiary of the NAACP's work, Obama cited
historical figures from W.E.B. DuBois to Thurgood Marshall, Martin
Luther King Jr. to Emmet Till, to explain how the path to the
presidency was cleared by visionaries," Associated Press reported.
All that is true, of course.
And Obama brought the NAACP audience to its feet when he spoke about
his vision for their children: "I want them aspiring to be scientists
and engineers, doctors and teachers, not just ballers and rappers,"
Obama said. "I want them aspiring to be a Supreme Court justice. I
want them aspiring to be president of the United States."
But there are disturbing reports of escalating civilian casualties
emerging from Afghanistan, a war that is now very much Obama's War,
and distressing photos being displayed of Afghan children lying in
hospitals with burned faces and bandaged limbs. We might well ask,
"What about their futures?"
Civilian deaths in Afghanistan jumped 24 percent over 2008 according
to the United Nations, CNN reported July 31st. There were 1,013
civilian deaths in the first six months of this year and 30 percent
of the slain were killed by Western military air strikes. The UN said
the air strikes "remain responsible for the largest percentage of
civilian deaths" attributed to foreign troops in Afghanistan.
Not surprisingly, Afghan President Hamid Karzai pleaded months ago
"for the U.S. to halt air strikes in his country, following attacks
that Afghan officials said killed 147 people," Reuters reported.
But President Obama isn't listening to the president of Afghanistan.
Neither is he listening to the swelling chorus of Americans who
regard the attack on Afghanistan as "a mistake" and who believe, says
Gallup Poll, that by a two to one margin the U.S. is spending "too
much" on defense. Apparently, some Americans are painfully aware that
dollars spent to conquer Afghanistan will never fund education or
retraining in America.
Of the five major civil rights organizations, the NAACP and the
National Urban League, the two oldest and most conservative, backed
U.S. involvement in Viet Nam. The NAACP was determined to show how
patriotic African-American Americans were, even as Pentagon records
in 1966 revealed a disproportionate number of Army casualties, some
23 percent, were African-Americans.
And while privately many Urban League officials opposed the Viet Nam
war, the organization was reaping Federal anti-poverty grants for its
job training and job-finding work from President Johnson. This
followed the Urban League's successful voter registration campaign in
1964 that enrolled an estimated 1 million new black voters. The
campaign was non-partisan, of course, but well over 90 percent of
Negroes signed up would vote for LBJ over Republican challenger Sen.
Barry Goldwater of Arizona.
Yet three courageous civil rights organizations attacked the war:
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee(SNCC), the Congress of
Racial Equality(CORE) and, most significantly, the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference(SCLC). SCLC's Rev. King, the Nobel Peace Prize
recipient, called the Viet Nam war "blasphemy against all that
America stands for." And was criticized for his stand by Roy Wilkins
of the NAACP and Whitney Young of the Urban League.
If he had not been assassinated, Rev. King likely would be highly
critical of U.S. aggression against Afghanistan and Iraq today. They
are countries whose subjugation is sought, respectively, for their
potential pipeline routes and rich oil resources. The U.S., of
course, has no legal right to wage these wars.
If President Obama wants to honor Dr. King's memory for all that he
did for him, he might begin by bringing U.S. troops home from the
Middle East now. As for visions, how about an America that does not
live by the sword?
--
(Sherwood Ross is a Miami-based public relations consultant who
formerly worked for major dailies and wire services. During the
Sixties, he worked in a professional capacity in the civil rights
movement. To reach him or contribute to his Anti-War News Service,
email: sherwoodr1@yahoo.com)
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