Indeed. When I was growing up practically every adult I knew reviled Martin Luther King and uttered his name as some sort of a curse.

I grew up in the white American heartland, outside of liberal or progressive bubbles, and I think my experience was pretty common.

Most of the people I knew reacted with astonished outrage when MLK Day became a federal holiday. They were so used to experiencing King as a demon that they couldn’t wrap their minds around honoring him.

It’s great that things have changed somewhat, that more and more ordinary white people recognize King’s priceless contributions to American society. But I think you’re very right to point out that he is being somewhat neutered in the popular imagination.

Many of the very same people who used to revile him are very comfortable today honoring some of his ideals but not all of them.

It’s not popular to hate King any longer, though some very conservative people still do, but it is popular to misrepresent what he stood for.

We should all be wary of this.