Martin Luther King Jr. Was A Radical Zealot

Trigger

Recently watched PBS God In America episode no. 5 “God in America: Five: Soul of a Nation”. This episode was mainly about Billy Graham and Martin Luther King Jr.

This is my second blog post about Martin Luther King Jr.. For my first one see here. This blog posts are intentionally contrasting the predominant narrative of MLK in the U.S.

Self-Righteous

Can a pastor who proclaims to be righteous be self-righteous? Of course. Obviously, the boundaries between righteous and self-righteous are grey.

The above video pointed me two speeches by MLK:

1. Reportedly the first speech ever on his civil rights agenda given December 5, 1955, referred to as “Address to the first Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Mass Meeting”  (see full text e.g. here)
2. The very last speech of his life given on April 3, 1968, referred to as “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” (see full text e.g. here)

In the first speech, MLK says among other things “And we are not wrong; we are not wrong in what we are doing. (Well) If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. (Yes sir) [applause] If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong.” (emphasis added). This is not exactly humble speech or a sign of humility. There is a very strong presumption here made by MLK.

In the second speech MLK said (emphasis and comments added):

“And also, in the human rights revolution, if something isn't done and done in a hurry to bring the colored peoples of the world out of their long years of poverty; their long years of hurt and neglect, the whole world is doomed.”
[MLK clearly seemed impatient and immodest.]

“We mean business now and we are determined to gain our rightful place in God's world. ”

“Now we're going to march again, and we've got to march again (Yeah), in order to put the issue where it is supposed to be (Yeah) [Applause] and force everybody to see that there are thirteen hundred of God's children here suffering (That's right), ... ”

[MLK wanted to force people to see! Really! Is this non-violent?]

“We aren't going to let any mace stop us. We are masters in our nonviolent movement in disarming police forces. They don't know what to do. I've seen them so often. I remember in Birmingham, Alabama, when we were in that majestic struggle there, we would move out of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church day after day. By the hundreds we would move out, and Bull Connor would tell them to send the dogs forth, and they did come. But we just went before the dogs singing, "Ain't gonna let nobody turn me around." [Applause] Bull Connor next would say, "Turn the fire hoses on." (Yeah) And as I said to you the other night, Bull Connor didn't know history. He knew a kind of physics that somehow didn't relate to the trans-physics that we knew about. And that was the fact that there was a certain kind of fire that no water could put out. [Applause] And we went before the fire hoses. (Yeah) We had known water. (All right) If we were Baptist or some other denominations, we had been immersed. If we were Methodist or some others, we had been sprinkled. But we knew water. That couldn't stop us.”
[Was MLK carried away by becoming unstoppable? He seems to relish in his accomplishment to trounce the police.]

“Now we've got to go on in Memphis just like that. I call upon you to be with us when we go out Monday. (Yes) Now about injunctions. We have an injunction and we're going into court tomorrow morning (Go ahead) to fight this illegal, unconstitutional injunction. All we say to America is to be true to what you said on paper. [Applause] If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, maybe I could understand some of these illegal injunctions. Maybe I could understand the denial of certain basic First Amendment privileges, because they haven't committed themselves to that over there. But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read (Yes) of the freedom of speech. (Yes) Somewhere I read (All right) of the freedom of press. (Yes) Somewhere I read (Yes) that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right. [Applause] And so just as I say we aren't going to let any dogs or water hoses turn us around, we aren't going to let any injunction turn us around. [Applause] We are going on. We need all of you.”

[Was MLK suggesting to ignore court orders when it’s inconvenient or to defy the rule of law?]

“"Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."”
[Like a mighty stream unstoppable and destroying everything in its path! Is this non-violence?]

“Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longings and aspirations of the people more than the preacher? Somewhere the preacher must have a kind of fire shut up in his bones (Yes), and whenever injustice is around he must tell it. (Yes) Somehow the preacher must be an Amos, who said, "When God Speaks, who can but prophesy?" (Yes) Again with Amos, "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." (Yes) Somehow the preacher must say with Jesus, "The spirit of the Lord is upon me (Yes), because He hath anointed me (Yes), and He's anointed me to deal with the problems of the poor." (Go ahead)”
[God has not anointed MLK! The presupposition in the first sentence of this quote is debatable that only preachers are qualified to articulate the longings ...]

“Now the other thing we'll have to do is this: always anchor our external direct action with the power of economic withdrawal. Now we are poor people, individually we are poor when you compare us with white society in America. We are poor. Never stop and forget that collectively, that means all of us together, collectively we are richer than all the nations in the world, with the exception of nine. Did you ever think about that? After you leave the United States, Soviet Russia, Great Britain, West Germany, France, and I could name the others, the American Negro collectively is richer than most nations of the world. We have an annual income of more than thirty billion dollars a year, which is more than all of the exports of the United States and more than the national budget of Canada. Did you know that? That's power right there, if we know how to pool it. (Yeah) [Applause]”
[Was MLK a pastor or a revolutionary? Who would have been in charge of this “pool”, MLK?]

“Now if you are not prepared to do that, we do have an agenda that we must follow. And our agenda calls for withdrawing economic support from you.”
[MLK is threatening! Is a threat of economic ruin or loss of livelihood non-violence?]

“And so, as a result of this, we are asking you tonight (Amen) to go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. (Yeah) [Applause] Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. (Yeah)[Applause] Tell them not to buy–what is the other bread?–Wonder Bread. [Applause] And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart's bread. [Applause] As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now only the garbage men have been feeling pain. Now we must kind of redistribute that pain. [Applause] We are choosing these companies because they haven't been fair in their hiring policies, and we are choosing them because they can begin the process of saying they are going to support the needs and the rights of these men who are on strike. And then they can move on downtown and tell Mayor Loeb to do what is right. (That's right, Speak) [Applause]”
[I am stunned! MLK even provides concrete threats. A pastor advocates revenge?]

“... we are putting pressure where it really hurts. (There you go) And I ask you to follow through here.”
[A pastor wants to really hurt? Is this non-violence?]

“Now let me say as I move to my conclusion that we've got to give ourselves to this struggle until the end. (Amen) Nothing would be more tragic than to stop at this point in Memphis. We've got to see it through. [Applause] And when we have our march, you need to be there. If it means leaving work, if it means leaving school, be there. [Applause] Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike (Yeah), but either we go up together or we go down together. [Applause] Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness.”
[What would Jesus say about such a pastor?]

“I just want to do God's will.”
[Was this perhaps a delusion of grandeur?]

I have to admit that I knew very little of the speeches and writings of MLK, most of it only in excerpts. I was particularly shocked when I read the entire second speech by MLK. In this whole speech, MLK comes away as a single-minded radical not a pastor.

Justice

To seek justice is unquestionably a worthy human cause. However, to coerce justice or demand some kind of justice to be done immediately is zealotry.

Justice is often in the eye of the beholder. Justice, like truth, is often not simply white and black (no pun intended, does not refer to race)!

I would argue that MLK was pushing for a certain kind of fast justice!

Public Portrayal Of MLK

Like many foreigners or even like many Americans I was most familiar with MLK’s I have a dream speech he gave at the Mall in Washington DC. Probably, one of the most famous footages of him.

In hindsight, this kind of portrayal of this man is a distortion or propaganda.