> I would suggest looking more into what he was actually about, rather than taking at face value a few words from his most popular speech.
I've listened to that speech over and over again throughout the years. I think he was utterly sincere in his desire for equality and brotherhood between people of different racial backgrounds. Most of the time, the simplest and most straightforward reading of a text (keeping the context in mind - author, audience, circumstance) is also the most correct. I believe he was not being duplicitous.
> your grade school understanding of MLK is not helping things
If you're referring to taking things at face value, then I proudly stand with grade schools insofar as they teach children to take people at their word and take truth at face value. And I defy the university-level critical (or rather, cynical) theory that seeks to redefine all texts according to its rubrik of oppressor/oppressed.
The irony is that DEI as a worldview promotes and condones racial discrimination in many forms -- that is, treating people differently because of the color of their skin, not the content of their character, their skills, or their physical ability (for physically demanding jobs).
Martin Luther King Jr. said "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Based on statements like this, I believe he would be publicly against DEI if he were still alive (and he'd probably have been de-platformed by now).