Ampersand at Alas, A Blog posted this.
Here's what King said interviewed in Playboy (January 1965):Question: Do you feel it's fair to request a multi-billion-dollar program of preferential treatment for the Negro, or for any other minority group?
King: I do indeed. Within common law, we have ample precedents for special compensatory programs, which are regarded as settlements. American Indians are still being paid for land in a settlement manner. Is not two centuries of labor, which helped to build this country, a real commodity?
I knew Dr. King's position but never saw that particular quote (I was only seven years old. It was another year or two before I got my first Playboy.) Keep it on file to hurl forcefully at anyone who claims Dr. King would be against affirmative action programs.
Tim Wise wrote a great article on MLK and affirmative action a while back. It's also something nice to keep handy whenever the right starts throwing around terms like like 'colorblind,' 'content of character', etc.
http://www.lipmagazine.org/articles/featwise_mlk_p.htm
Posted by Bill at February 24, 2004 01:56 AM