Martin Luther King Jr. Day: A Time To Reflect

Manhunt Daily will be closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a regular flow of posts kicking off tomorrow morning. Please take a moment to silently reflect on this great man’s life. All in all, we encourage you to enjoy the day off in your own special way. Wink wink, nudge nudge.

No, but really! Let’s not forget what this day is really all about. It may seem like we’ve come a long way since 1963 (when King made his famous “I Have A Dream” speech), but there’s still far too much racism and injustice in the modern-day world. How will you contribute toward making King’s dream come true? If he were alive today, do you think he’d support the gay rights movement? Discuss!

– Dewitt

Click through to watch King’s “I Have A Dream” speech:

71 thoughts on “Martin Luther King Jr. Day: A Time To Reflect

  1. Yes there is still a lot of racism in the world.  Just read many of the profiles on this website.  The racial qualifiers are in profiles from all parts of the U.S.  What gets me is a lot of the racists on this site say ‘it’s just my preference”.

  2. Since when were me not allowed to have a preference regardless what the subject is?   There are plenty of black profiles that say “black only” or “black and Latino”.    I ran across one the other day that said “Jewish only”.  I see absolutely nothing wrong or even slightly racist.  Look at all the age qualifiers.  Is that discriminatory?

  3. Follwing civil rights advancements, led by MLK, his final years were focused on the widening gap with the poor of all races in America, sounds very similar to the dialogue needed today. We need to bring a stronger voice to this and MLK’s efforts to raise this issue to the forefront of our national debate and policies. Our current leader’s are just not getting it…

  4. He was a reverand. So my answer would be no, he would not support gay rights, but he may have simply stayed silent and discourage violence against all people, including us. 

  5. Everyone has preferences; and to me, it seems totally fine for someone to prefer “twinks” or “bears” or “jocks” if that’s what they genuinely prefer. But notice that to prefer X is not to abstain from Y. Indeed, to express a prohibition against sleeping or dating men of a particular entire race or ethnicity seems problematic to me. How can you say you’re not into “black guys” or “black and latino” guys if you’ve only ever met or known a handful of them? Surely not EVERY black guy is the built the same or acts the same – and to think otherwise is to make racialized assumptions about a person without any rhyme or resaon (i.e. the very essence of racism). Again, expressing a true preference for younger men doesn’t necessarily mean I will never sleep with an older man. It simply means this is what I’ve preferred in the past. So no; it isn’t discriminatory. 
    http://www.metroweekly.com/news/opinion/?ak=5613

  6. It is a little known secret that one of Dr. King’s most trusted advisers was a gay, black man named Bayard Rustin. So while King may not have supported gay rights then, I think, had he lived long enough, he slowly but surely would have come over to the right side of history. 
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayard_Rustin

  7. It does bug me when I see people being biased against any one group of people, but on this website (which I assume means Manhunt.com), it’s important to remember that the focus is sex, not equality. 

    “I’m not racist but I’ve got a dick like David Duke.” – John Mayer

  8. Here is an excerpt of an article that African American Congressman John Lewis of Atlanta wrote about gay marriage in 2003:

         I’ve heard the reasons for opposing civil
    marriage for same-sex couples. Cut through the distractions, and they
    stink of the same fear, hatred, and intolerance I have known in racism
    and in bigotry.Some say let’s choose another route and give gay
    folks some legal rights but call it something other than marriage. We
    have been down that road before in this country. Separate is not equal.
    The rights to liberty and happiness belong to each of us and on the same
    terms, without regard to either skin color or sexual orientation.http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2003/10/25/at_a_crossroads_on_gay_unions/Congressman Lewis worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. during the civil rights movement.  He was beaten by state police during a march at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama and suffered a fractured skull.  He was nearly beaten to death in Montgomery.  He spoke at the same demonstration MLK gave his “I have a Dream” speech.  I have no reason to believe MLK’s views of same sex marriage would differ from those of Congressman Lewis.

  9. there were a few comments about people having preferences and equating that to racism…not to add fuel to the fire but that idea makes no sense to me. i know plenty of women who would love to hook up with me but i definitely do not want to hook up with them. does that make me a sexist? sexual attraction and equal civil rights are not in the same boat so don’t even try it.

  10. If Racism continues in this country it’s definitely not from the white’s , black’s make up 17-20 % of the population, but we have a Black president, so how do you think he got elected????
    The white people in this country have for the last 40 years or better truly embraced equality, the problem is the haters that want to keep the divide going, Like Jesse,Al, and a few other’s  so the government feeds into their continued bullsh-t, no one in this country has s reason to bitch about white racism anymore, you might not like that some white’s perfer there own for reason’s of dating ,sexualality, or marriage, but on the other hand no one is denying anyone the opposite either. So stop complaining aand start enjoying what’s been offered and changed for quite sometime now.

  11. I think today, Dr. King would be standing up for the rights of everyone, but he’d get a lot of flack from the religious right and many so-called evangelicals in the south. He would have a tougher time with his African-American base because of their biblical interpretations regarding gay sexuality as a greater sin, but he would remind them that those who had pre-martial sex were also committing a sin and in the eyes of God, that sin is no greater than the other. It would not be a popular stance, but because of his following, he would have a greater influence and hopefully help things move froward.

  12. I agree one hundred percent! People only cite scripture when it’s convenient for them but ignore the things like pre-marital sex that are inconvenient for them.

  13. I think one of the things we could use this day to think
    about this notion of preferences and what it actually means.  In its simplest form it means just to like
    one thing more than another, and as DorianGray posted preferences are not
    exclusionary.  I might prefer flying in
    first class, but if I can’t get that upgrade coach will get me there.  What many of us fail to realize about preferences
    is that they originate mostly from the world around us. For example, growing up
    some of us may have been drawn to the color pink, but once the people around us
    told us that pink is for girls most of us would suppress and/or realign our
    preferences to what is considered to be normative.

     The same is true of
    preferences regarding sexual attraction. 
    If the silly gay clique you hang out with says things like I’m not into Black
    men- chocolate breaks me out or no Asians because I’m allergic to rice, then
    your preferences can be influenced by your opinion leaders.  And that isn’t even getting into the
    influence of true racism on these attitudes; which is considerable. If the
    people around you don’t consider persons of other races to be attractive
    because they think Blacks are thuggish and Asians have funny eyes, then you
    probably won’t as well.  

    Ttuboy313 is right, preferences and racism are not the same
    thing, but the piece that is missing is that preferences can be rooted in prejudice,
    bigotry and racism and on this day I suggest we all take a minute and honestly
    consider where our “preferences” come from. 
    Because going around saying it’s just my preference is a cop out if none
    of us are willing to talk about from where our preferences originate.    

    Oh…and more on topic: I do believe Dr. King would be
    supportive of the gay rights movement much as Coretta Scott King was in her
    later years.  I do however think he would
    take issue with our lack of respect, acceptance and inclusion towards one
    another. Just because we stand in gay bars with people of other colors doesn’t mean
    we’re truly integrated.  Happy MLK Day!

  14. Thank you for the information on Bayard Ruskin!  I was unaware of him or his involvement with the American Civil Rights Movement!  Thank you for making today a learning experience for me!  I posted his information on my Facebook page with PRIDE! 

  15. Sure I think he would support the rights for any person/s or group/s that had been disenfranchised and discriminated against!!!
    As a young gay in the closet I fought for civil/human rights for persons of color in this country. The similarities, based in prejudice, fear, and ignorance (and what group or mindset is dominant and in power) are undeniable and evident ~ even today~!!!

  16. Really I mean really?  God this country is so fucked up . no wonder kids and the next generation are fucked . Grow up…….. LEAD or get the fuck out of the way!

  17. this is a gay porn blog… stop pushing other agendas down our throats.
    I cant believe you dont even stop for new years and xmas but you do for a random day?

  18. SORRY, BUT NOTHING AGAINST AFRICAN AMERICANS BUT WHY IS THIS DAY SO SPECIAL. I WAS DISCRIMINATED AGAINST YEARS AGO WHEN IN THE HOTEL BUSINESS A BALCK WOMEN WAS GIVEN THE DAY OFF FOR FREE AND PAID???

    I SAID TO MY BOSS I EXPECT TO GET GAY PRIDE DAY OFF AND SHE JUST SORTA LAUGHED, SORRY KINDA BUREND ME FOREVER

  19. You’re fucking delusional! A black president don’t mean shit. racism is alive and well in this country and it’s everywhere and among all people. 

  20. Why would he wanna support the gay “community” when I truly believe gays are more  racist than the great population and this site proves it, er,the readers on here prove it on a regular basis. that is all. 

  21. As a black gay man, he might not have been personally okay with homosexuality, but he would have stood up to stop the persucution of ANY creed of people. Bayard Rustin is gay and he was the one to organize the March of Washingtion with only  a
    ROTARY phone and index cards.  Yes my sista’s, no CELL PHONE. (That’s a bad bitch!!!)    I don’t think he would have been FOR us, but he would not have raised a finger or said a word against us.  He wanted us to share Earth, not fight over it.

  22. I’m not sure… he was a very religious man and we will ever really know how he would feel on the subject.

  23. You need to learn to spell. I doubt that story went the way you just said it. If it burned you forever, on what exactly? On all black people? or that your BOSS was wrong? Fucking idiot. 

  24. we could certainly hope that his egalitarianism was not hypocritical and limited to equality based on superficial differences such as skin colour, but as Dave says, we’d never know, and he was a very religious man.

  25. It’s not clear to me that sex and equality are mutually exclusive things. Indeed, it is perhaps in sex that we should treat people first and foremost as equals.

  26. I’m not sure anyone is equating equal civil rights with sexual attraction. But just as it is socially unacceptable for someone to say they’re only interested in having white friends, so too should it be socially unacceptable for people to say they’re only interested in having white sexual partners. There’s much we can do as a society to advance justice that does not require a recognition or rights. Indeed, no one would ever say there is a right to have sex with someone. 

  27. If you only like black and latin men because you fetishize them for their big dicks, thug demeanor or any other racialized attirubte, then yes. It does indeed make you ‘wrong.’

  28. Actually, you can’t be racist against a white person since racism is a form of power and whites maintain power in American society. You can, however, discriminate against white people on the basis of race.

  29. Are there not gay black people? And do white gays not have MLK to thank for the current society in which we live?

  30. This is great Dewitt. I’m sure you will also be having a day of reflection on Memorial Day, honoring those who fought and died for our freedoms, and the freedoms of others around the world. How about President’s Day, honoring George Washington, deemed the “father” of our country; and Abraham Lincoln, who kept the country “together” while it was “apart”? Of course you will! It would be hypocritical to do otherwise. Fair is fair!

  31. You sound like a big dumb baby. lol. In case you don’t know today is a federal holiday as well. So shut the fuck up with your whining.  It’s not like we celebrating Obama day, go read a fucking history book and learn the importance of what the man did. 

  32. well i definitely think it is asshole-ish when people list on their profiles “only into whites,” but i do not really think it should be socially unacceptable at all. i mean at least not any more or less socially unacceptable than trolling the internet on sites like manhunt for as much man butt as possible.

  33. I think he would support gay rights he was quoted as saying “an injustice anywhere, is a threat to justice everywhere”

  34. This is my first time ever writing on here, but what is very concerning to me is that people on here have forgotten the real definition of racism.
    rac·ism/ˈreɪsɪz1. a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human races determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one’s own race is superior and has the right to rule others.
    2. a policy, system of government, etc., based upon or fostering such a doctrine; discrimination. 3. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races

    I don’t see how wanting to be sexual with one race over another is considered racism. If sexually you find one race attractive and another race not attractive, doesn’t mean you think the other race is below you or inferior. It means you sexually find certain races attractive. Just of that reason doesn’t make you racist. Personally I am friends with a lot of black people and love to be around them and I don’t like being around certain white people. And i am WHITE. People are people, race shouldn’t be a factor in how you interract with eachother. It’s personality and interests. Preferences come with the individual and no one can change it. Everyone has their own mind, no one can change it. I’m kind of disturbed that Throbjam thinks that preferences come from only weak minded people that can’t think for themselves on what they prefer. That if the majority says “that’s wrong to preference a black man over a white man if you are white” that then most of us would go along with it. Well, most of us on here are gay and/or bi and that is considered by the “majority” WRONG, then, wouldn’t we all still be in the closet? I believe if you have a problem with what people preference. then you have an insecurity about yourself. You shouldn’t worry about what others find attractive, find people who find you attractive. It’s plain and simple.

  35. “…start enjoying what’s been offered…”
    That’s rich.
    “Shut up and be happy with what you get.” Yeah, that’s the way we create change. Really successful approach.

  36. The argument of “as a gay man, I don’t find women sexually attractive equates with not finding black/white/etc. man attractive” is specious.  Sexual orientation is innate and unchosen.  Racism (even exemplified in sexual “preferences”) is learned and chosen.

  37. i become a little more sad, every time i see the discussions of Race and Racism get hashed out on this blog — for i’d long-taken part in a few wars, over the years, on who’s right, who’s wrong, and why I say it is so.

    nothing changes though.

    for those whites who are determined to hold on to their racist beliefs, and for those other, non-whites who are determined to hold on to their prejudiced beliefs..
    ..well, i reck’n they’re going to continue to do so, no matter how many words are spilled on the subject.

    it is amazing how many “rationalizations” a human can engender, when he wants to justify his malbiases.

    what I wonder about, actually, is what would happen to all of that foolishness, if  our collective memories were wiped clean, of all current biases.
    knowing Human Nature, we’d likely come up with something new to discriminate about.

    (i wish not to contribute any ideas, towards formulating any others, of course.)

    the saddest thing, is when The Young Ones continue to get these poisoned values instilled in them.
    without even knowing why they are being encouraged to believe in, and promulgate, them.

    but, maybe, if they’re too weak-minded to be able to Look Around Them, and see that there’s a very-grave conflict between the “advice” they’re being given, and the reality they live in..
    ..then they really don’t deserve to flourish amongst The Rational Ones, anyway.

  38. Preference is not  exclusionary, that small detail is what is important. Have all the preferences you want but when you simple exclude a group of people all together no matter what, that is a problem. pr
    an act or instance of excluding. the state of being excluded.a keeping apart; blocking of an entrance.exclu

  39. Why does Manhunt ask our race/ethnicity? Why is that even necessary? Is it to enable those who choose to discriminate against others on this basis? I decide to meet someone based on what he is into and what he looks like, not because he checked a pre-defined race box

  40. Apparently you’re reading something that just isn’t there. Of course I know it’s a federal holiday, as is Memorial Day, and President’s Day. I am fully aware of what MLK did. He should be honored, as should veterans who fought and died for our country. Amazing you have a problem with that. Very un-American of you.

  41. did you even read what they said? he said BLACK guys claiming “black ONLY” or “Black and Latino”. he also pointed out that some profiles have “Jewish ONLY” and to say a preference to one race or another on a profile doesn’t mean the have never met or have friends of that race, it is just what they want. shouldn’t prejudge a profile, especially if you’re never gonna meet the person. sometimes I am so sick of claiming to be human.

  42. posts like yours anger me.  a person may or may not be sexually attracted to a person for any number of reasons, racial prejudices however are not neccecarily among them (i am sure there are some who’s sexual attraction does have to do with prejudice, but thats another story).  i personally am open to any race, and look only at wheater i find the person’s overall appearance, inside and out, to be attractive.  but i’ve known many people who say i have nothing against (insert racial minority here), but i do not find them sexually attractive.  that’s not prejudice, it’s nothing more than sexual attraction at play.

  43. sexual PREFERENCE and racism are also in different boats….prejudging a profile based on just what is said, with no intention of ever meeting the person is a prejudice. just because a person PREFERS one thing to another doesn’t make them racist, bigoted, prejudice whatever. granted if they live too far that is understandable, but within meeting distance?

    you don’t know them nor have any intention of meeting them and you’re gonna judge them only by what their profile says….

    isn’t that the same thing?

  44. OMG!!!! I am not the only one that thinks this way, thank you Cameron!!! 🙂 So refreshing to read a deep and thought out response, so open and compassionate.

  45. “The white people in this country have for the last 40 years or better truly embraced equality….” IF that is true, then why are we still fighting for the right to get married if they have TRULY embraced equality. and you still hear about prejudices

    http://www.channel3000.com/news/30193471/detail.html

    Equality will NEVER be true until people open there minds

  46. No, it’s not the same thing.  Enjoying what a person wants to do but discarding people because of what they are is bigotry.  If someone says they will not meet guys because of the other guy’s race, age or looks is bigotry.  Gays have no right to demand equal rights when they refuse to treat each other equally.  I have “preferences” in what I like to do, but I’ve never had preferences in who I do it with.  Does that make me better than other gays who are bigots when it comes to the race, age or looks of partners?  Yes, it does.

  47. Here’s a question for all you gays here who say “some of my best friends are…” but say doing it with somebody of a different race is a dick-flattener while claiming not to be racist, just what is it about somebody else’s race that flattens your dick?  Is it the color of their skin?  Is it their facial features?  What is it?  If it’s anything, anything at all, that means you’re a racist, a learned and chosen thing, and it doesn’t matter how many “best friends” you claim you have.  Mammy was one of Scarlett’s “best friends.”  Scarlett was still a racist.  So are the rest of you belles.  Just be honest and admit it, and then withdraw yourselves back into the closet because those of us fighting for the dignity and equality of all human beings don’t need friends like you.  Put on your leather or feathered boas and burn your crosses elsewhere; you’re not welcome, wanted or invited.  No one wants your gay kind, including the rest of us gays. 

  48. Coretta Scott King was a gay rights advocate and said publicly that she felt that gay rights, as a civil rights issue, would have received tremendous support from her husband where he alive today. 

  49. Un-American of me? Please, you’re the one with this fair is fair shit. We’ll observe George Washington  when we debate what he did for the colonial gays. See they didn’t just post a pic of MLK for the hell of it. The question was, would he have supported gay rights. 

  50. Obviously you’ve totally missed MY point. I’m not responding to the question, I expressing my opinion on taking a break from all they gay bull shit (something you seem to roll in like a dog rolling in shit), and honoring those INCLUDING MLK who made this country great!

  51. A person can have all the preferences they want, but a “preference” is NOT exclusionary. You may prefer one race to another fine, but when it’s totally EXCLUDING a particular race, there is a problem. Let’s say someone is attracted to white guys over latin men. that’s your preference. To say your not attracted to latin men AT ALL is a problem. A preference is you prefer one thing before something else. I prefer apples to oranges, but I will eat an orange. That’s a preference.  I prefer to fly over driving, BUT if I need to drive I will. I prefer black men, but I like a white guy every now and then, that’s a preference.  I prefer white men, but I don’t find blacks or hispanics attractive AT ALL is not preference. I won’t say racist, because that only leads to people being defensive. But, honestly how can someone say they don’t find an ENTIRE race of people not attractive??? I think people should challenge themselves. That is all.  

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