The Radical Legacy of Dr. King- In His Own Words
This past week, people across the country took time to remember the life and legacy of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Yet too often, we fail to remember Dr. King rightly. Rather than remembering his radical and often unpopular leadership, we remember a placated, non-threatening, and sanitized version of Dr. King that is more palatable for the masses. We celebrate a white-washed version of Dr. King, failing to remember that by the time of his assassination, the FBI considered him the most dangerous man in America.
Dr. King frequently spoke out against what he named the “3 evils” of militarism, capitalism, and racism. He decried the Vietnam War. He critiqued the ills of capitalism. He advocated for civil disobedience and direct action that broke established laws of the land. He supported economic policies that included a redistribution of material resources, a guaranteed job for every citizen, a universal basic income, and affordable housing for the poor. While many may be familiar with some of his uplifting quotes, such as his “I have a Dream” speech, many of his speeches contained radical thoughts that would likely be rejected and censored in many of our churches and schools today.
As we remember the true legacy of Dr. King, let us remember some of his own radical words, examining how they speak into our current racial, economic, and political realities:
· As we face potential war with Iran and the reality of a U.S. military budget that’s near one TRILLION dollars, let us remember that Dr. King spoke out against the Vietnam war and American militarization in the following ways:
“A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war, ‘This way of settling differences is not just.’ This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation’s homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love…
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” (Beyond Vietnam, 1967)
· As we hear cries about the “legality” of moms choosing to live in a West Oakland home and prophetically challenging unjust, discriminatory, and corrupt housing policies, let us remember that Dr. King said:
“One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws….
An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.” (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)
· As we hear many churches continually critique the divisive or “violent” nature of the Black Lives Matter Movement, we remember that Dr. King said:
“I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear?…It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.” (The Other America, 1968)
· As many Christians continue to deny the longstanding realities of systemic racism and white supremacy in our country, looking to Dr. King as a “peaceful” example to emulate, let us remember that Dr. King said:
“There is an Old Testament prophecy of the ‘sins of the Fathers being visited upon the third and the fourth generations.’ Nothing could be more applicable to our situation. America is reaping the harvest of hate and shame planted through generations of educational denial, political disfranchisement and economic exploitation of its black population.” (We need an Economic bill of Rights, 1968)
· As we examine our current economic system and the overwhelming inequity that has come out of our white supremacist and capitalist system, we remember that Dr. King said:
“Again we have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that Capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifice. The fact is that capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor — both black and white, both here and abroad…”
What they truly advocate is Socialism for the rich and Capitalism for the poor. (The Three Evils of Society, 1967)
“I am convinced that if we are to get on to the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.
A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life’s roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” (Beyond Vietnam, 1967)
When we choose to remember the words, thoughts, and lived example of MLK, let us continually push ourselves to remember him rightly. Let us also not forget the radical leadership of others- such as Bayard Rustin, Maude Ballou, Ella Baker, Fannie Lou Hamer, Diane Nash, or Coretta Scott King- who are often overlooked due to their gender or sexual orientation. Let us continue to acknowledge that as we honor his radical legacy, we are also acknowledging the radical teachings and Way of Jesus, whose life and teachings shaped Dr. King’s leadership.
May we continue to live not just in pursuit of the “Dream,” but true justice- everywhere and for everyone.
