Give the Candidates the MLK Test

A Black Agenda Radio commentary by Glen Ford

The "hope-la" and "change-la" emanating from the Obama and Clinton campaigns turned sour as Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday approached. The two front-running candidates and their corporate media-megaphones found themselves on shaky ground when the subject turned to the actual history of MLK and his antagonist/ally, President Lyndon Johnson. The vapidity of the debate revealed, once again, the shallowness of American political discourse, which has been stripped bare of relevance to past, present or future realities. Fortunately, Dr. King left a voluminous record of his own political analyses. Rather than allow them to blather further, the candidates should be tested on the question: What would Dr. King do? All but one would fail.