Martin Luther King’s legacy was invoked to justify opposing affirmative action

Evidence

Ironically, however, such appeals are sometimes used today as a justification for racially conservative political positions. The California campaign against affirmative action in 1996 appealed to Martin Luther King, Jr., and “color-blind” public policies. — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 2197