In 1966—just two years before Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated—only about a third of Americans viewed him favorably. More than six-in-10 (63%) had an unfavorable opinion of him, including 44% who had a highly unfavorable view of Dr. King.
This statistic is not just a historical footnote—it is a warning.
The same America that now selectively recites the quotes of Dr. King once overwhelmingly opposed him. Many of the conservatives who invoke his name today—and many of the moderate liberals and Democrats who remain silent in the face of injustice—would likely have stood against him 60 years ago.
A note: This blog is not addressed to those who openly oppose diversity, education on Black history, or the inclusion of marginalized communities. It is for the moderates Dr. King warned about—the ones who claim to support equality in principle but remain silent or passive when that equality is threatened.
Rolling Back Our Civil Rights
As we watch our federal government roll back Civil Rights Era measures, erase the history of Black veterans, and see federal agencies refuse to celebrate Black History Month, we must recognize a familiar pattern. Corporations are quietly retreating from their commitments to diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Here in Wisconsin, legislators introduced bills to ban discussions of systemic racism—a calculated effort to erase Black history from America’s story. The same lawmakers withheld university funding until they abandoned their diversity and inclusion efforts. They support a leader who was sued by the federal government sued for racial discrimination, spread racist conspiracy theories about America’s first Black president, pardoned 1,500+ far-right activists and continues to dismantle anti-racist policies from the ‘60s.
If you have ever wondered what you would have done during the Civil Rights Movement, the answer is simple: look at what you are doing now. Are you speaking out, protesting, resisting? Or are you watching from the sidelines as history repeats itself?
The Backlash to Racial Progress is Not New
Dr. King did not fight for a sanitized, convenient version of justice. He fought for real justice—one that demands discomfort, resistance, and a rejection of the so-called “order” that prioritizes stability over liberation. Justice is not given; it is seized.
History tells us that every gain in civil rights has been met with backlash, every step forward met with resistance, and every fight for equality met with attempts to silence, distort, or erase it.
Dr. King understood this all too well. In his Letter from Birmingham Jail, he wrote:
“I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice...”
This Black History Month, we challenge those moderates to reflect on the mistakes of the past. The error of those who watched their neighbors lynch, brutalize, and exclude Black Americans with both legal and vigilante violence.
Neutrality in the face of oppression is not neutrality—it is complicity. Silence endorses the status quo, which has always been exclusion, violence, and subjugation. We cannot afford to be comfortable in times of injustice nor allow fear of discomfort to prevent us from acting.
It’s Time to Act
We are witnessing a deliberate and systematic rollback of racial progress.
And yet, those same politicians will quote Dr. King every January, conveniently ignore that he was widely despised in his time—often by the same type of "moderates" who are silent now.
This month, and every month, we must do more than recite cherry-picked quotes from Dr. King. We must commit to his philosophy: protest, resist, and hold our government accountable whenever it attempts to marginalize Black and other oppressed communities further.
To those who believe in fairness, equality, and justice but remain silent out of fear, we ask: What will your legacy be?
Sixty years from now, history will judge us. The question is: will you be part of the 63% who stood in the way of progress or the 37% who stood with Dr. King?
