Coretta Scott King’s Misrepresented Legacy

Hey, Meteor readers,

Y’all, I encourage you to check in on your football friends. We’ve had a tough week. And by we, I mean me, since the hottest old man I’ve ever seen chew gum, Pete Carroll, is no longer the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks.

In today’s newsletter, we remind everyone who Coretta Scott King really was. Plus, banning sexy books in Florida, abnormal weather, and weekend reading.

Pete, my DMs are open,

Shannon Melero

WHAT’S GOING ON

More than someone’s wife: If you’re not caught up on why everyone’s discussing Coretta Scott King, here’s the TL;DR: In December, actor Jonathan Majors was found guilty of assault and harassment. During his trial, a recording was played for the jury in which Majors berated his then-girlfriend Grace Jabbari, telling her that she needed to comport herself like Mrs. King. (His implication was he wanted someone who would stand beside—and in a sense behind—a powerful man.) Then this week, in an interview with Good Morning America, Majors doubled down on the sentiment, saying that his new girlfriend, Meagan Good, “held [him] down like a Coretta.” Ignoring for a moment that Majors is trying to compare himself to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the assertion he’s making here is that Coretta Scott King was a woman of value because of her willingness to stand by her man no matter what. As Brittany Packnett Cunningham explained on Instagram, Coretta Scott King has been made out to be “the patron saint of cleanup women.”

This is far from the first time Mrs. King’s life has been reduced to her marriage. I still remember Fabolous’ 2007 hit “You Make Me Better,” where he delivers the line, “Imma need Coretta Scott if I’m gonna be King.”

But as Dr. Bernice King—her daughter—wrote in 2017, “Before she was a King, my mother was a civil rights activist, a member of the NAACP and the Race Relations and Civil Liberties Committees at Antioch College. Coretta Scott was determined that her life would serve to lift others. She was already a woman of great character.” Let’s also remember that without the work and persistence of Mrs. King, we probably wouldn’t have a Martin Luther King Day at all.

So this year, rather than continue to misquote and decontextualize her husband, we give Coretta Scott King the recognition she deserves as an individual, a legend in her own right, and not just a supporting player.

AND:

• The Escambia County School District in Florida (which oversees more than 50 schools and learning centers) is pulling a few more books from library shelves because of their lurid and filthy descriptions of sexual acts. Those books include…The American Heritage Children’s Dictionary, Webster’s Dictionary for Students, and Merriam-Webster’s Elementary Dictionary. These soft porn rags will be on ice until the board can thoroughly review them and determine whether or not they violate Florida’s HB 1069 bill, which, among other things, prevents the discussion of sex or sexuality in classrooms. (PEN America is already filing suit.)

• On January 1, a statewide ban on gender-affirming care in Louisiana went into effect. Now, a group of trans kids and their families are suing the state on the grounds that the ban violates their rights under the state constitution.

• More lawsuits: Tabatha Means, a woman in Florida, is suing the ride-share service Lyft for its liability in a 2019 incident in which she was allegedly raped multiple times by a Lyft driver. A paternity test determined that the driver in question was the biological father of Means’ child, who was born prematurely at 33 weeks.

• Several new studies have found that people who had depression during or soon after pregnancy faced increased rates of suicidal ideation and attempts for up to 18 years afterward. If you or someone you know is suffering from depression, you can reach out for help by dialing 988.

• Teenagers in Newark, New Jersey will now be allowed to vote in some school board elections beginning this spring, which seems like a really important step forward considering that infiltrating school boards has become one of the most common and effective ways for small conservative groups to screw kids over.

• Shia LaBeouf wants to become a Catholic deacon. I have so many questions.

WEEKEND READING 📚

On “bouncing” back: The incomparable Naomi Osaka is making her return to tennis after becoming a mom, and she’s got a lot to say about it. (The Athletic)

On sequels: The Ku Klux Klan had a significant revival in the early 1900s. With the extremist right gaining more power in the U.S., it’s worth revisiting how hate groups have managed to rebrand themselves successfully in the past. (Teen Vogue)

On the podium: Did you watch the Republican primary debate between the remaining sad bunch last night? If so, you probably have the same question we have: “What is Nikki Haley even talking about?” (The Atlantic)

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