> Suffice it to say MLK can hardly be said to represent the sentiments of all black Americans, let alone all Americans.

Let's not even say that, he was just a person who was trying to communicate how we should treat each other. It's easy to label him to a group and start saying he does/doesn't represent that group. Let's keep it simple and say he was 'Homo sapien'.

I find the association between cultural identity and the color of ones skin a simplistic way of looking at things. "Blackness"/"Whiteness" are so overloaded and it often brings confusion.

Being a s/w engineer I immediately went to edge cases, where skin color can muddle the waters:

- Elon Musk was born in S.Africa and living in the US. Is he African American? Technically yes.

- A black French person, raised by white French parents, living in the US would refer to himself as French.

- A white French person, raised by black French parents, living in the US would refer to himself as French.

I'm a white Englishman who's living in the US, but there's not a chance you can say I'm the same as a classic white born American.

Heck my parents are not English, so you'd be hard pressed to compare me to a 'standard' Englishman.

Ultimately I try and view MLK 'spirit' of the talk, which is are you a good/bad character (irrespective of your upbringing) and that's how you should be judged.

Edit: formating