Well... he IS someone to be idolized, for the things that he did to move forward an unbelievably important movement during a very difficult time. As far as human beings go, he is in the top 10% of us, that's why you see his name in history, that's why he has a national day named after him. Your comment is actually negating those things, by focusing on those negatives and saying "Well, I thought he was supposed to be all high and mighty, why do we even look up to him at all?" It's possible that a flawed man comes out as a net positive when you consider the full picture.

Of course, if you want to focus on those negatives and judge somebody's entire legacy based on that, then of course, that's your prerogative. But it's peculiar that you're puzzled why people look up to MLK and hold his legacy to high esteem, his character something to aspire to.

Hey, it strikes me that you're learning about MLK as we go here. Like, for example, that plagiarizing thing? That's ancient history, man. Known for a long, long time now. People even talked about revoking his master's degrees, and that was shot down because the general population agreed that his good deeds and life of service AFTER grad school pretty much outweighed the bad of his plagiarism. I'm sure if you read the FULL story of MLK, objectively, you'll find those negative bits a footnote in the life of an amazing and fascinating man. Cheers!