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Would King be given the royal treatment today?

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At about this time last year I shared my frustration regarding the ways in which Martin Luther King Jr. is generally “remembered” and “celebrated.” In part I wrote:

I am so weary of the confining “prison” in which we have incarcerated Rev. King’s work and legacy. We have done so using twin evils. One evil is pretending that he delivered just ONE speech, of which only ONE part typically is quoted — and that part is often taken grossly out of context by those whose words and actions are diametrically opposed to the racial equality for which King was assassinated. 

The second evil is the Disney-esque social and spiritual castration to which Rev. King has been subjected. He has been pre-packaged and sanitized for mass consumption. His audacious radicalism has been reduced to ‘feel good’ emotional pablum. This consummate warrior for justice is the victim of identity theft — his personhood robbed of the power of societal change that was forged in the crucible of immeasurable sacrifice …

I stand by everything that I expressed at the time; in fact, I might have even greater opprobrium today. Nonetheless, I frequently wonder whether the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King could be as effective a leader in 2020 as he was in the 1950s and 60s. Any answer to this question is, by definition, “counter-factual.” In other words, the question cannot be answered definitively because King is not alive to offer his perspective. However, engaging in this thought exercise is far from a waste of time; indeed, it has practical implications. (More on that later.)

The primary reason that I question whether King would be as effective today is because the social and political factions that are, in some ways, his ideological progeny tend to be far more “progressive” than he was. Indeed, while many Americans viewed King as “radical” for his day, many of his words, actions and beliefs would be interpreted as “conservative” relative to, say, those of Black Lives Matter activists. The most obvious potential problem would be King’s deep religious faith. While there are “progressive” Christian ministers in today’s social context (Rev. William Barber being perhaps the most prominent example), it is not clear King would “check all the boxes” that would be demanded of him today. (The far left, as well as the far right, tend to “eat their young.” That does not bode well for the future.)

Further, King and his wife, Coretta, had a very “traditional” marriage — even though she was well-educated and a highly talented singer and musician. Also, we don’t know where King would stand regarding LGBTQ issues. Though King availed himself of Bayard Rustin’s brilliance, he also distanced himself somewhat from the openly gay activist. (Rustin was the primary organizer of King’s signature event, the 1963 March on Washington.) 

To be clear, some leaders in King’s day criticized him for not elevating women to senior leadership roles in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). Legendary activist Ella Baker, who spent time working at SCLC, is one leader who became an increasingly vocal opponent of King. Further, King was accused of failing to fully embrace student-led movements as the 1960s wore on. Most prominent among these groups were the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). There was increasing friction with King and his SCLC as the student organizations abandoned nonviolence and aligned themselves with Black separatist movements.

As I suggested earlier, there are practical implications of this discussion. For example, even though I admit that comparisons to Barack Obama are somewhat facile, it is instructive to consider the ways in which the former president’s record is being savaged by the far left. Given this context, it is easy to imagine that there would be a “Cancel King” or “Heal the Doctor” movement via Black Twitter if he were alive today. (A scene between a young female activist and Denzel Washington’s title character in his recent movie “Roman J. Israel, Esq.” comes to mind.) 

Obviously, no one knows the extent to which efforts to undermine King would take root — or how successful they would be. (Witness, for example, Kayne West — who is apparently “cancel proof.”) Still, that’s beside the point. The issue is that King may well not have risen to national prominence if he were a contemporary activist. This nation would be much worse off as a result. 

Larry Smith is a community leader. Contact him at larry@leaf-llc.com. 

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