The article traces how American conservatives laid claim to the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. We focus on a key moment in that process, when Republicans in the early 1980s battled other Republicans to establish King’s birthday as a federal holiday and thereby distinguish a conservative position on racial inequality from that associated with southern opposition to civil rights. The victory was consequential, aiding the New Right’s efforts to roll back gains on affirmative action and other race-conscious policies. We use the case to explore the conditions in which political actors are able to lay claim to venerated historical figures who actually had very different beliefs and commitments. The prior popularization of the figure makes it politically advantageous to identify with his or her legacy but also makes it possible to do so credibly. As they are popularized, the figure’s beliefs are made general, abstract, and often vague in a way that lends them to appropriation by those on the other side of partisan lines. Such appropriation is further aided by access to a communicative infrastructure of foundations, think tanks, and media outlets that allows political actors to secure an audience for their reinterpretation of the past.

这篇文章追溯了美国保守派如何向小马丁·路德·金（David Luther King，Jr.）记忆关于种族不平等的立场与南方反对民权的立场有关。胜利是必然的，有助于新权利努力平权行​​动和其他具有种族意识的政策减少收益。我们用这个案例来探讨政治角色能够向实际上具有截然不同的信念和承诺的受尊敬的历史人物提出主张的条件。该人物的事先普及使他或她的遗产身份具有政治上的优势，但也有可能做到这一点。随着他们的普及，该人物的信仰变得普遍，抽象和模糊不清，从而使他们被游击党另一边的人所占。通过使用基金会，智囊团和媒体的通信基础设施，可以进一步帮助这种拨款，这些基础设施可以使政治角色确保观众对过去的重新诠释。