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Originally posted by swampfrog
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I pulled the transcript from the full recorded speech on youtube.
Here are the quotes. Feel free to show what I've missed, because it looks to me like he has condemned the riots and condemned our lack of response to them. I claimed that local authorities had abdicated their responsibility to uphold the law, which includes not allowing the police to do their jobs protecting private and public (community) property.
(It should be clear that the descriptive explanation I wrote of the motivations of some citizens to defend property is not advocacy of the same, but if it's not, Kyle should not have been there.)
First, he provides a description of what effective peaceful protesting looks like.
"I went with my father when he and our neighbor got one of those 'I am a man' signs and went downtown Memphis and watched him stand there proudly with Dr. King and other men and women black and white who had enough courage to stand up against what was wrong. And the way they did it, they had on their suits, their shirts, their ties, pants, and if it was cold their overcoats. They locked arms and they marched peacefully and Dr. King stood for that which was peaceful because the world took a look at what was happening in Memphis, in Chicago, in Detroit, in Washington DC, and all over this country. We changed the entire world and we changed it because those men and women had enough guts, integrity, enough citizenship, and love of country."
What did they do when the riots would start?
"They did it by standing like men and women of integrity and class and common sense and values. When the riots started and folks started burning stuff down that's when my father took my arm and we left. We left because that was not what we were there for. That was not what Dr King was there for. That was not what others who are famous in the civil rights days were there for. This was not peaceful, it was not part of our movement, and it only hurt everything."
What should happen instead of riots?
"That policeman that put his foot on that man's neck was wrong and every one of us in this room decry it. Every one of us in this room condemn it. We say it was wrong and in America we have a system of justice, a system of justice that's going to bring the full impact of the law down upon him, and I think every one of us in this room will support that."
He compares this to the death of Dr. King and the response to that assassination.
"And I remember as we went back to Memphis and all of the riots broke loose everything he stood for, everything he stood for, was all of a sudden being torn down until calmer voices, calmer voices came, and said Dr. King was against this, he was against this, he was against this."
He denounces the constant elevation of race and color in every issue (which is Critical Race Theory).
"My family raised money and sent my dad to Washington for that march well that man stood there and said that he wanted his children judged by the content of their character not the color of their skin and all we do in America right now is talk about color. Every issue, every issue is about race, it's about color, instead of a sitting down at the table like men and women of common sense and common justice and understanding that our enemies are looking with a greedy vigilance upon us as we tear ourselves apart eternally. They have been watching us for 50 years preparing step by step by step by step for us to kill ourselves."
He then again condemns the rioting, vandalism, and destruction of property, specifically asking in addition what kind of people we are when the people committing these crimes are labeled heroes.
"And I may not be back here next year and I'm sure everything I said say is going to be misconstrued and misquoted and used against me in November. Fine, fine, because I stand for my father's legacy. I stand for the men and women who acted like they had some sense, and some courage, and changed this country by being men and women who stood for something. If we don't start standing for something don't you know that the people who are looking at what's happening in Washington, in Detroit, in Portland, and Seattle. They're getting emboldened because we act like a bunch of punks too frightened to stand up and protect our own stuff. You tell me that somebody got the right to tear down property that Tennessee taxpayers paid for? That American taxpayers paid for? And somebody has the right to destroy it, deface it, and tear it down? What kind of people have we become that we can't protect our own stuff and when the heroes are those who violate the law?"
And for those who are stuck at "mostly peaceful protests"? And the attacks on the police?
"Peaceful protest ends peacefully, anarchy ends in chaos and what we see happening right now. Any of us with any common sense, any common sense whatsoever, know that what we see is not peaceful. So we can continue to fool ourselves and mix with words and use rhetoric and public relations in order to frost this stuff over and put a nice picture on what we see. That is frightening, frightening. I have a nephew who is a policeman who talked about getting attacked the other night. You're telling me that somebody has the right to throw feces and urine in the face of those that we as taxpayers pay to protect us and that's okay? What has happened to us if we don't get this right, right now. I've got grandchildren. I don't want to see the country we're going to have 5 10 15 20 years from now if we don't start acting like we got some guts right now brethren sister and friends colleagues--right now.
Here are the quotes. Feel free to show what I've missed, because it looks to me like he has condemned the riots and condemned our lack of response to them. I claimed that local authorities had abdicated their responsibility to uphold the law, which includes not allowing the police to do their jobs protecting private and public (community) property.
(It should be clear that the descriptive explanation I wrote of the motivations of some citizens to defend property is not advocacy of the same, but if it's not, Kyle should not have been there.)
First, he provides a description of what effective peaceful protesting looks like.
"I went with my father when he and our neighbor got one of those 'I am a man' signs and went downtown Memphis and watched him stand there proudly with Dr. King and other men and women black and white who had enough courage to stand up against what was wrong. And the way they did it, they had on their suits, their shirts, their ties, pants, and if it was cold their overcoats. They locked arms and they marched peacefully and Dr. King stood for that which was peaceful because the world took a look at what was happening in Memphis, in Chicago, in Detroit, in Washington DC, and all over this country. We changed the entire world and we changed it because those men and women had enough guts, integrity, enough citizenship, and love of country."
What did they do when the riots would start?
"They did it by standing like men and women of integrity and class and common sense and values. When the riots started and folks started burning stuff down that's when my father took my arm and we left. We left because that was not what we were there for. That was not what Dr King was there for. That was not what others who are famous in the civil rights days were there for. This was not peaceful, it was not part of our movement, and it only hurt everything."
What should happen instead of riots?
"That policeman that put his foot on that man's neck was wrong and every one of us in this room decry it. Every one of us in this room condemn it. We say it was wrong and in America we have a system of justice, a system of justice that's going to bring the full impact of the law down upon him, and I think every one of us in this room will support that."
He compares this to the death of Dr. King and the response to that assassination.
"And I remember as we went back to Memphis and all of the riots broke loose everything he stood for, everything he stood for, was all of a sudden being torn down until calmer voices, calmer voices came, and said Dr. King was against this, he was against this, he was against this."
He denounces the constant elevation of race and color in every issue (which is Critical Race Theory).
"My family raised money and sent my dad to Washington for that march well that man stood there and said that he wanted his children judged by the content of their character not the color of their skin and all we do in America right now is talk about color. Every issue, every issue is about race, it's about color, instead of a sitting down at the table like men and women of common sense and common justice and understanding that our enemies are looking with a greedy vigilance upon us as we tear ourselves apart eternally. They have been watching us for 50 years preparing step by step by step by step for us to kill ourselves."
He then again condemns the rioting, vandalism, and destruction of property, specifically asking in addition what kind of people we are when the people committing these crimes are labeled heroes.
"And I may not be back here next year and I'm sure everything I said say is going to be misconstrued and misquoted and used against me in November. Fine, fine, because I stand for my father's legacy. I stand for the men and women who acted like they had some sense, and some courage, and changed this country by being men and women who stood for something. If we don't start standing for something don't you know that the people who are looking at what's happening in Washington, in Detroit, in Portland, and Seattle. They're getting emboldened because we act like a bunch of punks too frightened to stand up and protect our own stuff. You tell me that somebody got the right to tear down property that Tennessee taxpayers paid for? That American taxpayers paid for? And somebody has the right to destroy it, deface it, and tear it down? What kind of people have we become that we can't protect our own stuff and when the heroes are those who violate the law?"
And for those who are stuck at "mostly peaceful protests"? And the attacks on the police?
"Peaceful protest ends peacefully, anarchy ends in chaos and what we see happening right now. Any of us with any common sense, any common sense whatsoever, know that what we see is not peaceful. So we can continue to fool ourselves and mix with words and use rhetoric and public relations in order to frost this stuff over and put a nice picture on what we see. That is frightening, frightening. I have a nephew who is a policeman who talked about getting attacked the other night. You're telling me that somebody has the right to throw feces and urine in the face of those that we as taxpayers pay to protect us and that's okay? What has happened to us if we don't get this right, right now. I've got grandchildren. I don't want to see the country we're going to have 5 10 15 20 years from now if we don't start acting like we got some guts right now brethren sister and friends colleagues--right now.
There were riots after MLK was assassinated. His death helped spur on real legislative change.
King messages and speech don't fit with your IDW-influenced world view.
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