Martin Luther King did not fight for peace.
He was not trying to “bring people together”. He was not reasonable. He was not accommodating and most Americans during his lifetime did not see him as an admirable public figure. That’s because Martin Luther King’s primary goal was not peace, it was justice. Martin Luther King was a revolutionary who wanted to radically reshape America so that it would live up to its ideals of freedom and equality. He was part of that great American tradition of abolitionists and women’s rights advocates and labor activists who fought to reshape American society to make it more equitable and just.
Martin Luther King fought for justice and white America despised him for it. Most people misunderstand Martin Luther King because they mistakenly believe that nonviolence is somehow peaceful. Nonviolence is not peaceful. It is fundamentally confrontational. King and his fellow civil rights activists said, we are going to nonviolently confront you and your racism and your violence. We will nonviolently provoke you to expose your violence, your hatred, your racism, your unconstitutional Jim Crow laws, your white supremacy. That’s why they were met with so much violence. That’s why Martin Luther King was arrested 30 times. That’s why in 1963 60% of Americans opposed the March on Washington where king delivered his famous, I Have a Dream speech. That’s why in 1968 Martin Luther King had a 75% disapproval rating. And that’s ultimately why he was assassinated.
Peace and brotherhood were long range goals that would happen after justice was achieved. That’s the whole point of the I Have a Dream speech. Kings says he looks forward to someday eventually when a man will be judged by the content of his character and not by the color of his skin.
So, this weekend beware of people trying to present Martin Luther King as a harmless advocate of peace, love and understanding. People like that Hallmark version of Martin Luther King because it’s so much more palatable than the actual revolutionary, confrontational, truth telling, justice seeking Martin Luther King.
