Most people do not realize that Dr. King was concerned not only with racism but also with America’s extreme materialism and militarism as well as issues of poverty and economic justice, educational justice, and global justice (including the Vietnam war, a war against brown-skinned people in which black Americans were much more likely to have to fight than white Americans). King was assassinated before he could deliver this sermon, but there is plenty of evidence of his views. Much of it is not public knowledge, however. As the political scientist Jeanne Theoharis puts it, King has been “domesticated” for modern audiences in order for people to feel comfortable. We have been fed a “fable” about the civil rights struggle which does a disservice to the people involved and keeps us from knowing how much power to implement change is available to us now.
Interested in knowing more about all this? Sign up for PHL 216: Violence and Nonviolence for next semester (TR 9:30). Contact Dr. Paul at linda.paul@wilkes.edu for more information.