I remember once reading a poem about Dr. King that made the same point as the article mentioned above.  One of the phrases of the poem was, “now that he is safely dead…”  The poem, like the article, discusses the reality that King has become somewhat sanitized over the years, as the national holiday celebration tends to put him on a “pedestal of perfection that does not acknowledge his complex views,” according to Melissa Harris-Lacewell of Princeton University.

King’s views on the Vietnam war put him at odds with many who otherwise supported his efforts to end segregation.  His analysis of economic justice was not universally embraced.  Non-violence was losing some of its appeal to African-Americans who looked for change to come about more quickly.  The article above quotes author and professor Harvard Sitkoff as saying that at the time of his death, Dr. King was considered by many as a “pariah.” 

All of which is not to say we should not honor King and his memory.    

Let’s just make sure that we don’t make him so palatable to popular thought and opinion that we lose what he really was all about.