On MSNBC’s The ReidOut, the always nasty and venomous Joy Reid used the occasion of Martin Luther King Jr Day to smear former President Ronald Reagan as a racist who signed the federal holiday into law as a cover so people wouldn’t think he’s racist. This despite the fact that Reagan was never a racist and his policies did more to get African Americans off welfare and out of poverty than any President until Donald Trump.
“The distortion of the message has been going on for nearly 40 years,” Reid whined. “It was President Reagan who popularized the tactic of co-opting Dr. King's philosophy of a color-blind society to advance his assault on racial progress.”
According to Reid, Reagan “prioritized dismantling the federal voting rights and anti-poverty programs that King fought under two Presidents to achieve. Even quoting King while attacking affirmative action, as he weakened the enforcement of civil rights laws.”
Reid then maligned Reagan’s record on race claiming that “when you look at Reagan's record on race, it is easy to see why. Reagan opposed every major piece of civil rights legislation adopted by Congress. He even called the Voting Rights Act of 1965 humiliating to the south.”
She never explained that Reagan opposed the Civil Rights Act because of its assault on property rights by the federal government, not because he wanted African Americans to be discriminated against.
“Reagan dramatically changed his tune about the MLK holiday, signing it into law in the presence of Coretta Scott King, the architect of the King legacy who fought for the holiday for 15 years,” Reid claimed.
“By pacifying his critics, and as the Boston Review described, to advance the anti-black crusade he had waged since the 1960s, now under the alluring mantle of color blindness.”
“That's exactly what we're seeing today. Republicans invoking the words of MLK, to support conservative policies,” Reid cried.
Conservatives are criticized no matter what they do. If they say something bad about Martin Luther King, they get painted as racists. If they praise him, they’re just trying to hide their supposed racism.
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To read the transcript click “expand”:
MSNBC’s The ReidOut
1/16/2023
7:02:52 p.m. EasternJOY REID: The distortion of the message has been going on for nearly 40 years. It was President Reagan who popularized the tactic of co-opting Dr. King's philosophy of a color-blind society to advance his assault on racial progress. Reagan got elected just 12 years after King's assassination. He prioritized dismantling the federal voting rights and anti-poverty programs that King fought under two Presidents to achieve. Even quoting King while attacking affirmative action, as he weakened the enforcement of civil rights laws. With the help of his legal team that included a young Republican lawyer named John Roberts, now Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, it was Reagan who signed the King holiday bill into law back in 1983. Though he didn't initially support the holiday.
When you look at Reagan's record on race, it is easy to see why. Reagan opposed every major piece of civil rights legislation adopted by Congress. He even called the Voting Rights Act of 1965 humiliating to the south. Launching his 1980 presidential campaign from Philadelphia, Mississippi, where civil rights heroes Goodman, Schwerner & Cheney were murdered by white nationalists. But after a few years and as support for the holiday gained momentum, Reagan dramatically changed his tune about the MLK holiday, signing it into law in the presence of Coretta Scott King, the architect of the King legacy who fought for the holiday for 15 years.
The law came with advantages, not for the country or for people of color but for Reagan. By pacifying his critics, and as the Boston Review described, to advance the anti-black crusade he had waged since the 1960s, now under the alluring mantle of color blindness. That's exactly what we're seeing today. Republicans invoking the words of MLK, to support conservative policies.
