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Jan 17,, 9 tweets, 4 min read
1. REMEMBER, from the outset, conservatives have sought to use the MLK Jr. holiday to ignore the "reality" of King and coopt his legacy as a symbol of an ideology that King abhorred

It started with Reagan.

popular.info/p/martin-luthe…
2. It's not talked about much but Reagan OPPOSED the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and OPPOSED the Voting Rights Act of 1965

In Reagan's 1966 campaign for governor, he SUPPORTED racial housing discrimination

Reagan also opposed the MLK Jr. holiday for years

popular.info/p/martin-luthe…
3. Reagan reversed course in 1983, facing increasing pressure from the NAACP and an upcoming reelection campaign.

But Reagan wrote to New Hampshire Gov. Meldrim Thomson (R), one of King's harshest critics, and let him know the plan.

popular.info/p/martin-luthe…
4. Reagan assured Thomson that the King holiday would be based on "an image" of King and not the "reality" of King.

Reagan proceeded to use a false image of King to justify defend his attacks on anti-poverty programs, and civil rights enforcement

popular.info/p/martin-luthe…
5. GOP politicians have been using Reagan's playbook for decades. Yesterday, VA Gov Glenn Youngkin invoked King to justify his executive order banning "divisive concepts" like systemic racism in VA schools

King talked frequently about systemic racism

popular.info/p/martin-luthe…
6. Republicans falsely claim that King advocated for a "colorblind" society by ignoring everything he's said, save for 35 words in August 1963.

The idea that King did not want people to talk about racism or address racial inequality is absolutely absurd

popular.info/p/martin-luthe…
7. Was King's "dream" fulfilled with the Civil Rights Act of 1964? We don't have to guess. King addressed the status of his dream in a Christmas Eve sermon at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in 1967.

"I watched that dream turn into a nightmare"

popular.info/p/martin-luthe…
8. Did King oppose race-conscious policies? We don't have to guess. In an interview with Alex Haley in 1965, King said he supported "a multibillion-dollar program of preferential treatment for the Negro."

popular.info/p/martin-luthe…
9. Conservatives today are not required to agree with King and his ideals. But they should not falsify his legacy on the holiday that marks his birth or any other day

For more FACTS about stuff that matters, sign up for my newsletter, Popular Information

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More from @JuddLegum

Judd Legum Profile picture
Jan 17,
1. This will be a thread of corporations that are "honoring" MLK Jr on Twitter today but donated to the @NRSC in the last year, supporting a caucus that is filibustering voting rights and a chair (@SenRickScott) who voted to overturn the last election

Follow along if interested
@NRSC @SenRickScott 2. @Google donated 15K to the @NRSC on 6/30/21

3. @AmericanAir donated 15K to the @NRSC on 6/9/21

Read 41 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Jan 17,
1. This will be a thread of Republicans shamelessly exploiting King's legacy by pretending to honor King with a tweet while using their power to oppose everything that King stood for

Follow along if interested.
2. King did not change Congressman Bucshon's heart or mind when he voted against the John Lewis Voting Rights Act on August 24, 2021

3. No one is doing more to undermine MLK's legacy than Mitch McConnell. King fought for voting rights and an end to poverty. McConnell undermines voting rights and anti-poverty programs.

popular.info/p/martin-luthe…

Read 27 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Jan 15,
"I think the tragedy is that we have a Congress with a Senate that has a minority of misguided senators who will use the filibuster to keep the majority of people from even voting" -- MLK Jr.
Here is a video of King's statement, from July 5, 1963

"The strategic position of these men, as chairmen of the most important committees in House and Senate, enable them to filibuster and to bottle up legislation urgently needed for the economic and social welfare of all Americans, Negro and white." -- MLK Jr., 2/12/58
Read 5 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Jan 15,
NEW: @ATT will stop carrying the far-right @OANN on its @DirectTV subsidiary.

@ATT responsible for 90% of OANN's revenue

OANN relentlessly pushed Trump's false claims that the election was stolen

popular.info/p/how-at-and-t…
@ATT @OANN @DIRECTTV “We informed Herring Networks that, following a routine internal review, we do not plan to enter into a new contract [with @OANN] when our current agreement expires,” DirectTV said in an emailed statement to Bloomberg News.

bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
@ATT @OANN @DIRECTTV Popular.info first asked @ATT if they would continue to carry @OANN last February.

This was their response:

popular.info/p/the-mypillow…
Read 6 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Jan 13,
1. 8K+ @kroger workers are on strike today in Colorado

According to a new study, as Kroger earns billions in profits, 2 out of 3 Kroger workers don't earn enough to pay basic expenses

popular.info/p/hero-strike
@kroger 2. Over the last decade @kroger, profits are up 102% and CEO pay is up 150%.

Inflation-adjusted wages for frontline workers, however, are down 3-5%.

popular.info/p/hero-strike Image
3. The CEO of @kroger, Rodney McMullin, made $22 million in 2020. That's 909x the salary of the median worker.

popular.info/p/hero-strike
Read 7 tweets
Judd Legum Profile picture
Jan 12,
1. Last year, 111 companies declared they opposed state laws restricting voting & were “willing and ready to unite in the fight to protect our democracy”

So do they support Biden's push to reform the filibuster and protect voting rights?

We asked.

popular.info/p/the-silence-…
2. Only two companies, @patagonia and @richer_poorer, told us they supported reforming the filibuster to protect voting rights.

A few told us they supported voting rights generally.

Most have gone completely silent.

popular.info/p/the-silence-…
@patagonia @richer_poorer 3. Why does this matter? Corporations have historically played an important role in overcoming Republican opposition to voting rights.

In 2006, @Walmart, @Disney and other companies helped convince President Bush to extend the Voting Rights Act

popular.info/p/the-silence-…
Read 6 tweets

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