Martin Luther King Jr. Was Way More Radical Than You've Been Told
I’ve had this itching feeling that I’m missing the full picture of Black history. School has taught me a bit. My family has told me more. But when I take stock of my knowledge of Black leaders and revolutionaries, I am embarrassed that I come up short.
Black history was often treated as a secondary topic in my classes -- teachers sped through lessons about the Civil Rights Movement and slavery. I got the main idea but I did not delve further.
I recognize that this lapse in my education was not by accident. There are systemic structures in place to devalue Black history in the classroom. Those in power have a vested interest in not adequately showcasing the range of extraordinary achievements of my people. The fact is that I will need to embark on this journey of filling in the pieces of the true Black history on my own. It will be a process full of listening, reading and reckoning but I think I am ready for it.
Today, my journey begins with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
Source: New York Times
The story of Dr. King is one that you may feel you have heard over and over. I memorized sections of his famous “I Have a Dream” speech in my elementary school classrooms and our nation takes time to honor his memory every year in January.
But when he died in 1968, 75% of Americans disapproved of him. At that time, he was seen as an insurgent and radical rather than a hero. The distaste for King lasted long after his death, as Ronald Reagan was reluctant to create a holiday in his honor in 1983 and all 50 states did not even recognize it until 2000.
The truth is that his legacy has been watered down and white-washed for mass consumption. He has been lionized as a national hero by conservatives and liberals alike. He has become the ultimate symbol of the “right way” for marginalized groups to pursue societal change.
The King that has been deemed acceptable for America to honor is not representative of the full breadth of his ideals. This disfigured portrayal of King’s accomplishments has led to a gross misunderstanding. Some people weaponize Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy of civil disobedience to invalidate current activists. They find today’s Black Lives Matter protestors to be too violent and their tactics too radical. Others believe King to have been “too soft” and accuse him of being a sell-out. They even disparage the tactics of the Civil Rights Movement by reciting the phrase “I am not my ancestors; you can catch these hands”.
Both of these groups have been deceived to believe that Martin Luther King Jr. was anything but a revolutionary.
Jeanne Theoharis, a professor of political science at Brooklyn College-City University of New York, explains the controversy that surrounded King during his time as a leader in this Vox interview.
“There’s this notion that King and the civil rights movement were embraced when things started in Montgomery. They weren’t. They were called un-American. King was constantly called a communist or a communist sympathizer.”
She described the step-by-step creation of a national fable surrounding King and the Civil Rights Movement.
“The first is the focus on courageous individuals, not movements. The second is the idea that King and figures like Rosa Parks shone a light on injustice, and [said injustice] has since been eradicated. The third is the act of putting the movement and the problem of racism in the past. And the fourth is the idea of American exceptionalism — the belief that the civil rights movement demonstrates the power of American democracy. So the Dr. King that we celebrate on the third Monday of January keeps getting smaller and smaller.”
We can not afford to shrink the truth of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Here are some ways we can further our understanding of all that King stood for.
Read the words of Dr. King.
The book “The Radical King” is an anthology of the lesser known speeches and writings of Dr. King highlighting his more radical ideals. It was edited and introduced by Cornel West.
The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute features several volumes of featured documents from his life in a project called the King Papers.
Read articles written during the Civil Rights Movement to get an idea of how the public perceived him.
The Library of Congress has created an online public record of historic American Newspapers called Chronicling America. You can use the search function to find articles written about Martin Luther King Jr.
Read these current pieces that focus on the often overlooked side of Dr. King
Listen to oral histories from people who lived during his time
If you know of anyone who lived through the Civil Rights Movement, take time to ask them questions and listen to their stories. The HistoryMakers foundation is the nation’s largest collection of African American oral histories. They have recorded interviews with the children of Dr. King and some of his partners in the fight for Civil Rights.
Martin Luther King Jr. was ahead of his time. He was a revolutionary who preached radical love, built multicultural and global coalitions, and advanced economic justice. More than fifty years after his murder, his vision for the world still has not been realized.