I was reading through my notebook the other day to discover a gem of a quote that I had penned in about 6 months ago. I scribbled it in very late one night, and thought I would transcribe it for you:
From James Cone's "Martin & Malcolm & America"
King attacked the Negro-white problem by advocating integration, which he often interpreted as Negroes having the same opportunities as whites, living with them, going to school with them, and becoming like them. He often communicated the idea that unless Negroes are in the same schools as whites and socialize with them, they cannot be free or equal to whites. But by becoming integrated with whites, a few (and only a few) Blacks acquired middle-class income, status, and values which separated them from the black masses, especially their religion. For integration, by its very definition, alienated blacks from their cultural history and thereby from those religious values that empowered them to fight for freedom. To be "free" meant to become white, and to be white in America has always meant the opposite of being black. King's American dream had to be universal, that is white, before it could capture the imagination of the majority of white people in the United States. In fact, the success of black persons in the mainstream of Americal is primarily dependent on their willingness to deny their African identity and become just an American.
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