The subject of much debate, questions and misunderstandings/Updated

Updated 1:30pm.: I added links for further information and edited it a bit, including a few pieces of relevant information I felt was missing. Thanks 

The following is a response to an article I read on American Thinker titled,"Dr. King and the Tea Partiers" by Sally Zelikovsky. I don't know yet if it will be approved and posted but regardless, I wanted to share it with everyone here. All the excerpts quoting her original article can be found here. All quotes from "I Have a Dream" a speech by Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. were from American Rhetoric. So here goes:

Dear Sally,

I first wanted to say that as a "person on the left" how much I sincerely appreciated reading your article. The vast majority of Americans, regardless of race, have felt that their voice wasn't heard or are being treated unjustly at least once (usually more) in their lifetime. You used his letter to show the points which speak to the beliefs you hold dear to your heart and this also clearly defines the reasons why so many feel such a connection to Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., regardless of what our personal story is. I think one of the truly incredible things to come out of this, is we all are going to gain a deeper understanding of how much Dr. King (and many others throughout history and the world) have done for all humanity.

The biggest question your article (as well as many others I've seen) seemed to be why "this man with whom we share so much, has exclusively become the darling of the left." and I wanted to try to explain it. While I can only share my personal thoughts and reasons, I think they're a fair representative of many on the left. I think one of the biggest misunderstandings about this is people think it's a left/right issue, but it's not. It's not Dr. King's political affiliation being left or right. He was a Minister, a leader in the "Christian Left" and "American Liberalism" and many believe he was a Republican. (My understanding was that he remained bipartisan purposefully, so nothing could effect the causes he supported.)

The issue is not that Republicans or "The Right" or "The Tea Party" want to embrace Dr. King's belief in the "Constitutional Rights" of EVERY citizen. In fact one of the examples you used, "We've endured all manner of broken promises from our politicians -- including their failure to work of, for and by the people. And they have ignored a long list of grievances -- lower taxes, fewer regulations, less spending, freedom to live our lives with minimal governmental intrusion, and so on." I think he would have been there with you supporting those rights 100% if he were still alive today. He also would have been proud of how everyone has followed his example of non-violence and peaceful gathering that he learn from the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. That is why we honor him every January with a national holiday.

As a side note, there is one important thing you misunderstood regarding Dr. King's Letter From Birmingham City Jail. You said, "While incarcerated, King wrote the letter as a response to a statement from members of the clergy who agreed with him but feared his actions might lead to violence, be perceived as extreme and hamper real progress for blacks in the South." The letter was actually written in response to "White Clergymen" telling Dr. King and all those fighting for Civil Rights, the "Right to Vote", the end of segregation and more, that they should to go to court and have the courts decide. They wrote, "We recognize the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realized. But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely."  

The concern is that the significance of the march on 8/28/1963 called "The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom", was for "Civil Rights" not "Constitutional Rights". A march organized by several Civil Rights organizations to demand that the government give them those Rights already guaranteed to them in the "Emancipation Proclamation". They wanted the government to pass a Civil Rights Act, ending racial segregation, protecting them from racial discrimination and police brutality. They also focused on the civil rights of the poor regardless of race such as demanding they raise the minimum wage for all workers.

From Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech:

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating: "For Whites Only." We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."

Which is why when Dr. King gave the now famous speech he said:

And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Because the march on 8/28/1963 wasn't a march for "Constitutional Rights". It was people (of all races) marching together for the "Rights" of Black People and other minorities still waiting to be given what was guaranteed to "All Men" in the Constitution. Dr. King, Charlton Heston, Sidney Poitier, Bob Dylan, Harry Belafonte, Joan Baez, Jackie Robinson, Rev. Al Sharpton, Rev. Jessie Jackson and 250,000 others stood together against racism. Demanding the government step in and ensure that everyone's Civil Rights were protected.

That's were I think the misunderstanding comes from. Some are looking at it as a right verses left perspective, but it's not. Some are looking at it from a "Constitutional Rights" perspective, but it's not. It's not about taxes or fewer regulations or health-care. It's not about the majority of us at all.

You so beautifully said, "America's destiny is to be that shining city on a hill, a place where the streets are paved with gold and endless possibilities abound, a society that stands as a light unto the world even during its darkest moments. Dr. King understood and embraced this.  Even as he sat in jail, he still recognized that America was indeed the last best hope on Earth precisely because of the immutable principles on which she was founded."

It's all about those who understood and embraced this. Even as they sat in jail. Even as they were fighting and dying for the ability to have those "certain unalienable rights" which are "endowed by their Creator".

I can't help but think if many of us who will wonder that if we can all feel so much for a person who's political ideals are basically a combination of what many consider the "extreme" ideals on both sides, will think about what we might be able to do together. Thank you so much for letting me to share my thoughts and opinions on such an important subject to each of us. 

Peace, Light and Take Care!

PS: I apologize for writing the wrong year in the response to the article, I think it's because I kept thinking of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.