Teacher's MLK Day Smack Down Of Paul Ryan And The Tea Party Says It All

By Randa Morris

A social studies teacher refused to accept an award from Congressman Paul Ryan on MLK Day; Watch the video to find out why the story resurfaced this week.

There are hundreds of examples that could be pointed to, which would illustrate best why the Tea Party should quietly excuse themselves from speaking about Martin Luther King (MLK). 

Their legacy of racism, attacks on the working class, cuts to the social safety net, and contrived attempts to repress the votes of minority citizens, all contrast sharply with what MLK stood for. 

Yet maybe no person or event can explain it quite the way a Wisconsin teacher did, two years ago, when he refused to accept a Humanitarian Award from Congressman Paul Ryan.

Ryan attended an MLK Day ceremony in Racine, Wisconsin.

It goes without saying that Paul Ryan was hoping for a bit of good PR, when he attended a 2012 Martin Luther King Day Ceremony. The ceremony was held at Gateway Technical College, in the Congressman’s home state of Wisconsin. Paul Ryan was there to present a well known and respected teacher, named Al Levie, with a Humanitarian Award, named after himself. But Congressman Ryan didn’t exactly get what he was hoping for, as Al Levie refused to accept the award.

“He had no business even being here.”

Levie said of the Ayn Rand loving politician. Levie referred to Congressman Ryan as a “lackey for the one percent.” He pointed out how hypocritical it was for Paul Ryan to be delivering a humanitarian award, on a day which was set aside to honor the memory of Dr. King.

“He (Ryan) cuts and slashes healthcare, while Martin Luther King dedicated his life – and he died for – people to have adequate healthcare to have adequate jobs,”

Unlike Paul Ryan, Dr. King stood up for the working class.

In the video, Levie further highlighted the difference between Martin Luther King and Paul Ryan by saying

“King made it very clear that he was on the side of working people. Ryan, on the other hand, he has absolutely no affinity for the working class.”

Al Levie teaches social studies and is on the executive board of Voces de la Frontera, a Wisconsin based non profit that works for immigrants rights, and justice for low wage workers. He is also on the board of the Racine, WI Chapter of the NAACP.

Al Levie’s video says it all.

Sure, we could point to Sarah Palin’s ridiculous comments about how President Obama was playing the ‘race card’ by talking about MLK. We could point out that the Tea Party chose to launch a sexist attack against Wendy Davis, on a day when the rest of the country was paying tribute to a man who faught for civil rights.

We could bring up the demographics that exist within the Tea Party, highlighting the fact that the party itself is almost entirely made up of white people.

But instead of all that, we thought we’d bring back Mr. Levie’s video. This teacher does an awesome job of highlighting the differences between small people like Paul Ryan and great men, like Martin Luther King.

Levie’s video ends with the words “For him to come to an event where somebody of King’s stature is being honored, is wrong.”

Watch Al Levie refuse to accept Paul Ryan’s Humanitarian Award.