The tragic circumstances of Martin Luther King’s untimely death and the upheaval and alienation that followed are etched in the memories of anyone who lived through that turbulent period. But the fact that MLK recognition events remain relevant a half-century later reveals not simply the importance of King’s life and vision, but also the stark reality of a nation still dogged by the legacy of slavery, racism, and Jim Crow. In every decade following the King era, we have found a renewed reason to remind the world and especially the coming generations of the legacy of this great man. For no philosophy, no leader, no movement has yet emerged to unseat King as the broadest and most defining civil rights activist in the Nation’s history.
At the same time, since those days, there has been no protracted period of advancement that convinces us there is less need to focus on what King and his vision represent for the country. Today, can there be any doubt that we are mired in social ills and divisions that cry out for robust policies and actions that advance the central aims of our democracy: freedom, equality, and justice? Shaping a path through the current divisions in the country is an urgent task. As hatreds and biases are irresponsibly stoked by the highest levels of power, we long for a compelling voice of reconciliation and a humane and healing expression of inclusiveness. Martin Luther King, Jr. was that voice in his time, and he remains that voice today.
In a 1957 article in Christian Century (Christian Century 74 (6 February 1957, 165-67), the prophetic King warned us of the consequences of “physical violence and corroding hatred.” He said that if we “succumb to the temptation of using violence in the struggle for justice, unborn generations will live in a desolate night of bitterness, and their chief legacy will be an endless reign of chaos.” Martin Luther King’s vision for justice in America required Agape love, which he defined as “redeeming goodwill for all men.” He called for us to “project the ethics of love to the (very) center of our lives.”
It is not only physical violence that is the companion of hatred; it is violence of other kinds. The violence of bigotry. The violence of exclusion. The violence of exploitation. The violence of benign indifference. The violence of hateful speech. Hatred, the very opposite of the love that King espoused, is formed in the crucible of pride and self-interest, a toxic mix causing individuals and groups to demean, exclude, exploit and violate the rights of others to secure a privilege or dominance over them.
King’s greatness as a historical figure emanates from many aspects of his philosophy and example. His “Beloved Community” was the image of a community of cooperation and respect for all. He vigorously eschewed the notion that some are more entitled or more privileged than others. He gave his life to the idea that the least of us is deserving of love, respect, and equality. The goal of establishing such a community remains a worthy one.
However, today, our nation is unabashedly replete with demands of privilege: economic privilege, racial privilege, social privilege, individual privilege. Social and economic inequality, many may assert, are the natural and preferred order. They may express scorn for those who would offer a more humane approach in the vein of King’s Beloved Community and depict them as unknowing and irrelevant, cowardly and envious. Loud voices calling for acceptance of inequality, poverty, brutish exclusion and racial domination are often amplified by the silent nods of some and the indifference of others.
In a no less contentious era, Martin Luther King lived his life out loud, inviting us into his struggles and fears. No matter how much he was extolled and celebrated, he expressed no scorn for others. Indeed, he did not hesitate to reveal his doubts. The brash certitude and arrogance at large today were not for him; humility guided his steps and respect for others illumined his way. His questioning and thoughtfulness did not diminish him; it elevated him even further as a leader. His essay on suffering in the context of the many threats against his life still teaches us how to cope with the kind of virulent hatred so often espoused today.
So many today fear that we may be moving backward as a nation. The frequency of references to the good old days which were good for some but not for others; the systematic minimizing and embellishment of past brutalities; the stoking of resentments and the highlighting of divisions – these are all indications of a move backwards and away from the values and ethics central to Martin Luther King’s teachings.
What are we to do in response? King showed us a way forward instead of a way backward, and his teachings point the way for us. First, he taught us how to be exacting in our expectations of ourselves. We often endorse aspects of his teachings deemed relevant for our adversaries while ignoring admonitions relevant to how we behave. Racism and bigotry are problematic not just when others perpetrate acts of hostility in its name but also when we in the very secret enclaves of our thoughts and actions, think and express racist beliefs. If we are to be serious about being with King on the right side of history, we must actively work to banish bigoted behavior from our own actions. Leaving space in our hearts and actions for bigotry of any kind offers a petri dish environment for hatred and discrimination. Like King, we must rid ourselves of hatred of the other.
Second, we can hope. James Melvin Washington’s edition of King’s writings is entitled, “A Testament of Hope.” King was optimistic. In the face of death threats and bombings, he was optimistic. In the face of jailings, he was optimistic. In the face of “bitter and dangerous adversaries,” he was optimistic. His optimism arose, he said, from “the sense of affirmation generated by the challenge of embracing struggle and surmounting obstacles.” (p. 314, Washington, A Testament of Hope.) And that is what we must do: remain optimistic because we are engaged in the struggle to improve lives and build the Beloved Community; remain hopeful because we are actively working to surmount obstacles to equality and justice; remain stalwart because we are responding to virulent hatred and clearing our own hearts of hate.
King was a beacon to the young people of his day. We cannot be the giant that he was, but we can strive to live our lives in ways that point to the validity of the King ethic. We can live out loud, exposing our uncertainties and wrestling with solutions to intractable social problems. This exercise can be instructive to others. We can speak truth to power and privilege, claiming the voice that King called on us to raise in the service of humanity. We can show courage when the rights of others are being denied or stolen. We can be unwavering in our support of the ideal of Agape love occupying the centermost part of our motivation. We can be drum majors for justice, not just for our clan and our personal interests, but for the human race.
I believe that a century from now, the world will still be reaching out to and elevating the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr. Those of us privileged to live in these times are closer to his example than those who will look to him a century from now. We must use this proximity to his lived example to renew our commitment to the just world for which he fought and died.
-Ruth J. Simmons, President