Michael Dyson says Rev. King would criticize Obama

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. would work obsessively for poor people, oppose the country’s wars even though that means criticizing President Obama, and fight homophobia and all kinds of discrimination.

That’s the message Michael Eric Dyson, minister, professor, author and radio personality, delivered Thursday at Elmhurst College under the title “Dr. King for the 21st Century.”

Dyson, who has written two books about King, features a fast-talking style much different from the American icon’s. During the hour’s talk he broke into snippets of song and frequently mimicked the voices of men he was discussing.

“King was dismissed and marginalized and yet he said at the end of his life that America must come to grips with poverty,” said Dyson, like King a Baptist minister.

And King did not think the country would be willing to spend what ending poverty would cost.

“King was obsessed with the poor, but we are obsessed with demonizing them,” he said.

While many scorned the idea of giving victims of Katrina each $2,000 debit cards, Wall Street moguls got millions in bonuses at taxpayer expense, Dyson said. People of all races show no sympathy for poor people, he said, attacking actor Bill Cosby for his famous criticism of the lifestyles of some African-Americans.

It is hard for young people today to believe how unpopular King’s opposition to the war in Vietnam had made him, the Georgetown University professor said.

“He was seen as a pariah on April 3, 1968. On April 4th he was murdered, and on April 5th he was a prophet and a saint.”