Posted on January 16, 2024

Are Conservatives Finally Learning?

Gregory Hood, American Renaissance, January 16, 2024

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Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA was American Renaissance’s 2019 “White Renegade of the Year.” That year, the “Groyper Wars” embarrassed Mr. Kirk by asking pointed questions about race and religion at his events. Turning Point also cut ties with Ashley St. Clair only because she was in a photograph with Nick Fuentes. Still, Charlie Kirk and TPUSA were no worse than any other conservative group or figure such as Steve Bannon. All of Conservatism, Inc. followed the tiresome ritual of praising Martin Luther King Jr. every January.

Things have changed. Charlie Kirk is leading a campaign against MLK. More accurately, he’s telling the truth. MLK was not a conservative, not a patriot, and not a good Christian, despite being a minister (ordained at age 19). “MLK was awful,” said Mr. Kirk. “He’s not a good person. He said one good thing he didn’t actually believe.”

The “one good thing” is from MLK’s “I Have a Dream” speech, in which he “dreamed” of a nation in which people are judged “not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” He didn’t want this. He wanted race preferences and socialism. His Christianity was for show. Generations of conservatives were eager to believe MLK was really a conservative — whether from delusion or the compulsion to claim the approval of a black saint.

When America had a dominant white majority, the fake image of King could have been a noble lie. America could pursue a “colorblind” ideal because there were enough whites to sustain the country. Token, high-profile blacks could flatter whites that they were “getting past” race. Now, as the white majority plummets, race relations are getting worse. The more concessions whites make, the more non-whites despise them — rightly so.

CNN and the Smithsonian have published articles about King’s unpopularity near the end of his life. This is probably to shame whites by explaining that back then, whites didn’t appreciate him. King is considered a “hero” today because the schools, media, and politicians gave us the myth of a man who fought for “equal rights.”

Some on the American Right now know better. Charlie Kirk may have honestly changed his mind, but he’s also feeling heat from young right-wingers who refuse to go along with Conservatism, Inc. slogans. The “Groyper Wars” may have been the most successful American right-wing youth activism in the last decade.

Other major accounts have also turned against MLK.

Why has this happened? Aside from the impact commentators such as Nick Fuentes have had on the younger generation, VDARE.com has plugged away at the King Myth for years, and we have for decades. Several key books have had a big impact. In 1994, Theodore Pappas of Chronicles magazine wrote the definite account of King’s reckless plagiarism.

More recently, Chris Caldwell’s The Age of Entitlement argued that the Civil Rights Act was a second founding that largely repealed the Constitution. Richard Hanania’s The Origins of Woke isn’t as hostile to the Civil Rights Act but argues that the result of the movement (intended or not) was the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion nightmare conservatives hate. These books have convinced at least some conservatives and libertarians that DEI is not a perversion of “civil rights,” but their inevitable outcome.

This is progress. If the real America is to be saved, the revolution waged against it by the misnamed civil rights movement must be undone. “In the new nation and the new creed of which the King holiday serves as symbol,” wrote Sam Francis, “all institutions, values, heroes, and symbols that violate the dogma of equality are dethroned and must be eradicated.” Our first step: dethrone King.

About Gregory Hood

View all posts by Gregory Hood
Mr. Hood is a staff writer for American Renaissance. He has been active in conservative groups in the US. You can follow him on Gab.