Every January, America takes a moment to dust off Martin Luther King Jr., aggressively smooth his razor-sharp edges, only to put him back on the shelf by dinner. We do this and congratulate ourselves for it.  We quote the dream speech because it’s soothing and comforting. However, we skip over the demands as if they never existed; we do this partly because they don’t fit the narrative we prefer. Mostly, though, it is that fairness is still being sold to the public as being too costly.  We remember the great orator and his tone, but the substance is criminally discarded. Martin Luther King Jr. is presented today as a passive, gentle unifier, a moral mascot for civility, a man who asked us to be kind and then carry on with business as usual. That sterile version of King is safe. He fits neatly into corporate emails, school assemblies, and social media platitudes. He asks for nothing. He is no threat to the status quo. This version allows people to avoid confronting themselves or...