"MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR."

 “MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.”

Today marks the 42nd anniversary of the establishment of the MLK national holiday.  I was reminded that God has a sense of humor because President Ronald Reagan was forced to sign it in to law in 1983.  Many white people, including myself, had harsh feelings toward King, and it has taken a long time for this holiday to become established, though some people classified as “white” still harbor hard feelings about King and his witness and ministry.  I’ve written about my journey with Dr. King in an online article for The Atlantic – you can check it out at https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2018/01/doubting-mlk-during-a-strike-in-memphis/550118/

In these terrible days, however, it is clear that Dr. King offers us a vision of life that is sorely needed.  You can put together your own list, but from my point of view, his life and witness offer us at least five guidelines for living our lives in terrible times such as these.

King lived in a time of the violent repression of Black people and white sympathizers, so he had no delusions about what time it was in America.  But, he also believed in the power of the idea of equality, an idea that often had him using this refrain: “How long?  Not long!  How long? Not long!  How long?  Not long?” So, I think that the first thing that King would tell us in this oppressive age is that we must be driven by hope rather than despair.  In these Trumpster days, we live in a time of fear and despair, and King would seek to fire us up to be driven by a vision of hope and equality.  No unrealistic hope here – King lived in an age of white supremacist violence and oppression.  He would tell us that George Wallace and Orval Faubus and Ross Barnett or Donald Trump do not have total control over us or over our imaginations – the idea of equality is a powerful one that will not be denied, no matter that white supremacy is now making its comeback.

Second, King would urge us to stick with the idea of non-violence in our resistance to the forces of oppression and tyranny.  Confronted by the military and police might of the Trumpster, some of us might be tempted to lean into violence not only as a strategy but as a necessity.  King would strongly wrestle with us to stick with the idea of non-violence, not only because it forces us to see the other as “human,” but also because of what violence does to our own psyches and understandings of ourselves and of others.  King used the Jesus approach:  be as wise as serpents and gentle as doves.  Jesus said these words to his followers not because he was in power but because he was not in power – he was subject to arrest and violence at the hands of the Roman Empire at any time.  King wanted his followers to remain true to themselves and true to the humanity of others.

Third, King would urge us to be resisters to the current political rulers.  As the Civil Rights Movement reminded us, there is no neutral ground here.  King’s approach to non-violence did not mean passivity.  It meant a strong dedication to seeing others as human, but at the same time resisting the evil ways that they perpetuated and maintained.  Those who are resisting the ICE raids are showing us the way – resistance is a must in these days.  King was arrested over 30 times for civil disobedience, and one of his great letters was written from a jail cell in Birmingham.  King reminds us that we must resist the unjust powers who are currently prevailing, and his life and his death demonstrated the cost of such resistance.  As he noted in his “Drum Major Speech” in 1968, we must use all our might and imagination to resist the triple threats of racism, materialism, and militarism.

Fourth, King would urge us to refuse to accept the definitions of others about our own humanity and the humanity of others.  He insisted that we see ourselves as children not of racial classification, nor of money, nor of violence, nor of religion, nor of culture.  Rather we should see ourselves as children of God, by whatever name we call God.  King brought a radicalism to this approach to our own humanity and to the humanity of others. Only by knowing our own worth can we withstand the headwinds of the triple threats in our lives. 

I don’t think that King was a Calvinist, though I have my suspicions.  His final word to us would be a caution to keep hold on the understanding of our deep captivity to the triple threats of racism, materialism, and militarism.  They are always with us, sometimes flowing into an underground stream, but at other times roaring at us as they are doing now, seeking to make us bow down and worship them, accepting the definition of ourselves and of others as something to be feared and thus to be oppressed and crushed.  We live in dangerous times, but so did King.  And his witness in those times reminds us that we must be true to ourselves, and we must be organizing and resisting in community, so that love, justice, and equity can prevail.   We need to build and to be a part of the Beloved Community so that we can resist oppression and build a life on love, justice, and equity.