I only watched a very small portion of the funeral for Coretta Scott King yesterday, so I can't speak to the whole thing. However, from what I did see, and the coverage the right side of the media has provided, here are a couple of small points that I may come back and address later more fully...
Jimmy Carter--Absolutely horrible. I used to respect his post-presidency, but since the War took us to Iraq, he's been horrible. Now more than ever.
Joseph Lowery--Simply egregious. His speech had almost nothing to do with Mrs. King. It was simply the same old DNC/NAACP pap used to bash Bush. A woman died. Some things transcend politics. Most of his words have no place in a funeral.
The Clintons--A more posturing, calculating couple could not be possible.
But to my main point here. Some of this may be taken as rather ugly....
As I think I've mentioned, I am an airline pilot for a major national airline. For the last 7 years, I've been a Captain. While it's certainly not routine, it is also not uncommon to run across celebrities on the plane. I can understand that a celebrity might view being locked in a tube with a public who may bother them is problematic. Sometimes, you simply don't want to talk, and a celebrity on a plane simply has no place to escape to.
For these reasons, my employer will often allow special treatment to celebrities--mainly in the form of finding a way for them to avoid the terminal. Celebrities often travel with an aide or family member who will act to shield the celebrity from the public. Again, I understand all this.
Now, to my thoughts on Mrs. King...
As a middle-aged white man, I can't say I'm all that familiar with Mrs. King. While I know that she's supported many civil rights causes throughout her life, I don't know of any writings or speeches she's given. She didn't refuse to give up her seat on a segregated bus. The impression I get from my distant perch is that her association with the MLK Center and participation in other civil rights movements were to act as more of a figurehead, than an activist. In short, I don't know of any direct or significant contributions she might have made to civil rights or anything else she might have felt were important. Her most significant achievement, to my knowledge, was to remind us that her husband had been assassinated.
In other words: She married well. Since her husband's assassination, she lived her life to remind us of that fact.
However, to my direct experience with Mrs. King...
I don't remember at all where we were going, but the agent told us that we'd have Mrs. King on board. She arrived and boarded from the ramp, where she'd been driven with police escort right to the plane. She and her aide sat in First Class, with the aide sitting on the aisle. [Tangentially, I've also had Jimmy Carter on a flight. He sat in Coach, and was a very humble passenger.] It was communicated to both myself and the flight attendants that she did not want to be spoken to, in any way. Any needs she might have would be communicated through her aide.
In other words: She didn't want
The Help speaking to her at all. She was royalty, and commoners shouldn't speak unless spoken to.
And this is where my opinion gets real ugly...
I also got the impression that all of this were doubly so, if the commoner were white.
So, take that for what it's worth. I'm not a racist in any way. I just don't think she lived a life which warranted the eulogies of 4 Presidents at her funeral.
