English Essay #3

Mr. Rice: Do You Know What Dr. King Actually Did?

The diary Most of You Have No Idea What Martin Luther King Actually Did was written by Hamden Rice. Mr. Rice is an independent author and professional editor from the greater New York region. His diary is a comprehensive and very personal, subjective perspective, of Dr. King’s legacy. Mr. Rice firmly believes that Dr. King’s “...main impact was his effect on the lives of African Americans, not on Americans in general.”(Rice 1) However after a critical review of the diary Mr. Rice’s beliefs are not only contradictory to Dr. King’s message but Mr. Rice’s opinions are not based in any evidence. Mr. Rice’s argument is both illogical as well as dogmatic, two traits which do not bode well for a diary or editorial.

Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy is solely based on the message he left after his passing. Dr. King’s message was one of love, equality, and does not belong to African Americans alone.  Dr. Kings battle for civil rights, his battle for equality, for respect is a concept for not only Black people but all people. To say Dr. King’s legacy belongs to only one people would be a contradiction to everything Dr. King stood and fought for. Mr. Rice claims Dr. King’s

“...main impact was not to make white people nicer or fairer. That's why some of us who are African Americans get a bit possessive about his legacy. Dr. Martin Luther King's legacy, despite what our civil religion tells us, is not color blind.” (Rice 1)

Mr. Rice’s claims are irrefutably contradictory to what Dr. King fought for making Mr. Rice’s opinion illogical.  Dr. King clearly states in his I Have a Dream Speech that he wants all people united.

‘ I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" -- one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.’ (Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.)

Dr. King desired a reality where all people were united therefore his dream and legacy belongs to all people.  

The fact that Mr. Rice has no solid evidence for his reasoning, besides his personal bias, fails to validate his thesis and arguments.  “This will be a very short diary. It will not contain any links or any scholarly references. It is about a very narrow topic, from a very personal, subjective perspective.” (Rice 1) Without any scholarly reference an editorial cannot persuade readers to think like the editorial's author--persuade readers of their beliefs, persuade readers to take action in the manner the author sees fit, persuade readers to actually believe that the author is a credible writer. Mr. Rice’s reasoning is well thought out and understandable because Dr. King's efforts did begin with changes for African Americans.   

“What most people who reference Dr. King seem not to know is how Dr. King actually changed the subjective experience of life in the United States for African Americans. And yeah, I said for African Americans, not for Americans,...” (Rice 1)

Unfortunately Mr. Rice clearly fails to give tangible or validated evidence. This diary entry is entirely his opinion, albeit legitimate at certain points, the editorial fails to persuade the readers due to a lack of authentic evidence. In addition to this, the Mr. Rice uses colloquial language in a professional and public editorial which further discredits his reputation as a writer. Without professional language, especially in an editorial, the piece does fall short in its attempt to convince the reader of the Mr. Rice’s beliefs.  In this case Mr. Rice’s argument, due to his use of colloquial language and lack of evidence, fails to prove his point to the reader.

Mr. Rice, throughout his diary, is immensely opinionated and dogmatic. He also comes across as very close minded and biased due to many of his statements. Having a bias and an opinion are two separate concepts, especially when it comes to a persuasive argument. Having an opinion is holding fast to a belief because you have prior knowledge and facts behind your thesis. A bias is an emotion which disables an author to respect reasoning and evidence; a bias causes people to walk blindly behind a belief, a bias does not convince readers of anything besides an author's ignorance. Personal accounts in an editorial have no place due to the fact they are not fact or proven testimony. “So anyway, I was having this argument with my father about Martin Luther King and how his message was too conservative compared to Malcolm X's message.”(Rice 1)  Mr. Rice is aggressive in his language and uses too many personal accounts which testifies to his thesis actually being a bias. Overall Mr. Rice is very dogmatic in his diary/editorial which fails to persuade readers although some of his points are, in fact, candor.

Mr. Rice ultimately fails to rally support with his diary due to three facts. Mr. Rice’s belief that Martin Luther King’s legacy solely belonging to African Americans is contradictory to Dr. King’s actual message of equality and love for all. The author also uses an abundance of colloquial language which is inappropriate for the context in which this article is being written. In addition to this Mr. Rice also has a lack of evidence which makes readers question the validity of the authors thesis. Mr. Rice is far too biased and dogmatic, too opinionated and stubborn, too aggressive and domineering in his editorial which proves nothing but his ignorance of factual testimony. In closing,  there is this to be said about Mr. Rice’s attempt to prove his thesis. Due to Mr. Rice’s lack of evidence and his use of colloquial phrases and his dogmatic writing and his contradictory thesis: he has failed to prove his point. After this critical review of scholarship it is fair to say that Mr. Rice does not comprehend what Dr. King did; this editorial (or diary entry) is an example for other writers that professionalism and solid evidence is always imperative to any essay.

Works Cited

"Martin Luther King I Have a Dream Speech - American Rhetoric." Martin Luther King I Have a Dream Speech - American Rhetoric. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Oct. 2014.

Rice, Hamden. "Most of You Have No Idea What Martin Luther King Actually Did." Most of You Have No Idea What Martin Luther King Actually Did (2011): 1. Dailykos.com. Web. 1 Oct. 2014.