If Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. magically rose from the dead, he would be dumbfounded by what America has become — and still is. But, he would soon realize one thing in particular that hasn’t changed: how infuriating the white moderate remains to be, as sports business analyst Darren Rovell decided to prove on Monday night — a day that’s supposed to honor Dr. King.
For some reason, Rovell took to Twitter to brag about his MLK collection, and how some of his “closest friends” are Black, in a now-deleted tweet. But you can see a screenshot of it below.
“My most cherished piece of Martin Luther King Jr. — he didn’t add the doctor to his name — memorabilia are pages from the warden’s log books from the Birmingham Jail in 1963 when he wrote ‘Letter from a Birmingham Jail.’ King signed in and out his mail 12 times.”
What kind of disgusting white man spends money and takes pride in having artifacts that note some of the most painful days of a Black person’s life?
A sadist, that’s who.
But wait, there’s more.
Rovell joined a conversation on Twitter Spaces in which he discussed his MLK and Rosa Parks collections.
“I have over nine MLK signed items. I am a humongous fan of what he’s done. Over the last seven years I’ve collected a lot of things. It’s not only MLK, it’s a lot of Black history. I own a Rosa Parks signed NAACP card. So, it was pretty shocking today how I was called racist when I am a student and lover of Black history.”
Darren Rovell doesn’t love Black history. He’s just a demented fanboy that takes joy in collecting the relics of Black icons tormented by white people.
If Rovell was really a “student” of Dr. King, you would hope that he actually read the letter Dr. King wrote when he was in that Birmingham jail. It’s apparent that Rovell must not have, as he’s part of the audience Dr. King so eloquently described as disappointing him the most.
“First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor 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; who constantly says, “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time; and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.”
In today’s world, the “white moderates” aren’t just the Darren Rovells of the world, but also the Kyrsten Sinemas and Joe Manchins that stand in the way of progress.
“History will not remember them kindly,” said Martin Luther King III, who compared those two current senators to the “good white people” during the Civil Rights Movement who acted like they supported equality, but whose actions often said otherwise.
It can also be seen in how a team like the Arizona Cardinals dared to put MLK stickers on their helmets with decals that said “Be Love” and “End Hate” all because they played a playoff game on his day, without mentioning the fact that the team once lost out on hosting Super Bowl XXVII because the state wouldn’t recognize MLK Day. This is the same team that’s had two Black coaches in franchise history who have only coached a total of 64 games.
Oh, and then there’s the annual MLK Day social media post from the FBI — the law enforcement agency that did all it could to destroy him by tapping his phone and blackmailing those around him.
In the argument over whether or not Critical Race Theory should be mandated in schools, who would have thought that a white guy that tweets about endorsement deals would be one of the best examples for why it should be taught in every classroom across this country. Because in just a few tweets, Darren Rovell showed the world why White America should just leave MLK Day alone altogether. They should be the ones that go to work, or take a CRT class. Black America will take that day off — it’s not like we haven’t earned it.