A hypocrite is the kind of politician who would cut down a redwood tree, then mount the stump and make a speech for conservation.

Adlai E. Stevenson

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday marking the birthday of the iconic American Baptist minister, scholar, and civil rights leader. Up until his assassination in 1968, Dr. King pioneered the end of legal segregation of African American citizens in the United States and was the force behind the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

What’s so disturbing to me is how today, on this federal holiday, Republicans are tweeting the praises of the civil rights legend while at the same time undermining all the things he stood and fought for. GOP legislators are proclaiming their reverence for Dr. King, but yet they have allied to undermine voting rights: A civil right that disproportionately disenfranchises Black people in the US

Democrats and the White House have been working to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, two bills which seek to secure federal protections for voting rights in the face of an epidemic of state-level efforts to restrict voting access. Both bills are in danger due to GOP filibuster tactics (an age-old legislative practice with a long history of undermining civil rights). I won’t mention two “Democratic” senators who refuse to abolish the filibuster in order to pass these two critical bills.

50 Republicans tweeted MLK tributes today, yet not one supports voting rights. The hypocrisy is deafening.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a true civil rights leader, a leader for hope, and sadly, a martyr. He was not an oligarch, he did not take handouts from lobbyists or corporations: He was a true democratic socialist (“socialist” being a dirty word among conservatives). The real MLK opposed the rise of militarism, fascism, and nationalism, he stood up for the oppressed and the powerless, he opposed Jim Crow laws, he supported a living wage for Blacks and attempted to mend America’s long history of injustice against Black Americans and people of color. 

In his 1963 Letter from Birmingham Jail, Dr. King wrote: “I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the White moderate who is more devoted to “order” than to justice. 

While the White moderates pay a Janus-like tribute to Dr. King, let’s not forget that in the 60s he was vilified by many whites, and if he were alive today, I doubt it would be any different. I would imagine that if Dr. King were alive today, Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity would have a field day spinning conspiracy theories and lies about the iconic figure. But the truth hurts: Dr. King pulled back the curtain and exposed the fact that white moderates (and liberals too) were complicit in fueling white supremacy and other forms of racial injustice. Perhaps this is why conservatives and Republicans are so opposed to “critical race theory,” which addresses the inconvenient truth of our nation’s sordid history of racism and oppression.

If he were alive today, Dr. King would no doubt have stood firm against the forces of Trumpism, American neo-fascists,the Proud Boys, the Oath Keepers, and the white right “conservative” movement. Such “organizations” would see him as an enemy, not as an icon.

As conservatives and GOP leaders tweet their empty tributes, our democracy is in imminent danger. Just one year after the insurrection, and the attempt to overthrow our nation and its democratic ideals, fascism and white supremacy are on the rise. Fascist groups spurred on by Trump and members of both Congress and the Senate stormed the Capital a year ago, seeking to overthrow the government. Now they threaten to take up arms and launch a second civil war. 

If Republicans regain control of Congress after the midterm elections this November, the Grand Old Party could retake the presidency in 2024. The GOP is banking on fueling the “big lie,” rolling back voting rights, and using propaganda and fear tactics to convince white Americans that they are the “real” victims of racism and discrimination.

While the GOP offers lip service to the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., it’s taking an axe to voting rights.