He grew up in Indonesia, his father was a Kenyan, and he’s been fighting the perception that he isn’t much of an American since he became a nationally known entity. Unfortunately for President Obama, his redecoration of the Oval Office is not helping by making him seem just as ignorant about America as his critics claim. This latest gaffe is in the expensive rug he commissioned that has woven onto it a quote mis-attributed to Martin Luther King, Jr.
Obama’s rug has attributed to King an oft-repeated line, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” Sure King said it. But even King reminded people that he wasn’t its creator.
Jamie Stiehm has the facts regarding this quote. It was originated by the 19th century champion of social progress, Theodore Parker.
Parker was a staunch anti-slavery man who died just on the eve of the American civil war, a man involved in every reform effort of his day, quite a radical for his time. He even supported domestic terrorist John Brown and supplied money for guns to be used in the “Bloody Kansas” fights over slavery.
King admired this white man who fought to end slavery and used his phrase many times u2014 with full attribution, of course.
