Martin Luther King, Jr., died on this date forty-three years ago, in 1968. His life was the twin of a movement witnessed by me and my contemporaries, witnessed by myself at first with suspicion and then with acceptance, approval and embrace. And as my own views of the movement evolved, so did my views of the man and mankind.
He was an American Christian clergyman. An incomparable preacher and orator, his cause was justice, first for the African-Americans and then the poor of this country. Social justice was more for him than a mere slogan, it was a cause for which he lived and died. To fully appreciate the work of King, one must be fully aware of the injustices suffered by the African-Americans of his day, both as a social policy of the Federal and State governments and as a result of social behavior neither ordained nor approved by political subdivisions. People now and in succeeding generations should remind themselves of the well-documented plight, the suffering, of African-Americans. Writings of the day, together with cinema and pictures, clearly enlighten us of their plight. Pictures of public lynchings of Black men with smiling, happy and contented onlookers are the ultimate commentary on the discrimination of that era. We assume, as Americans, that we cannot be deprived of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” without due process of law. We assume this, even though it seldom crosses our minds that our “life” can or may be taken from us. African-Americans could not make such assumptions from the day the first slaves were taken from Africa and sold into the New World to the post-World War II era of America. And, this is the ultimate of deprivation of social justice for an entire people. We must keep this portrait in our minds to understand the early works of King for social justice.
His later years would expand his awareness of suffering beyond the Black community, to people suffering from poverty in this, the richest and greatest of all nations. Again, documentary evidence of the poverty of interurban slums and rural disaster areas should give us an understanding of the suffering of the poor in America. He interpreted this as a social injustice every bit as much as discrimination based on race, and our failure to so interpret it today shows how calloused we have become, politically and socially, toward the weakest among us. King held out hope for a better nation and a better people.
Using his skills, knowledge and wisdom as a clergyman, he called for us to act more Christ-like. He looked toward a day when we could and would achieve something akin to a city set on a hill, a light for the world. He looked forward to a new world when people would stop their meanness and mean neglect of others, to a day when the little white child and the little black child would play together, judging each other by the content of their hearts. He looked forward to a day in a new world when we would hurt when we saw people suffering with too little food, clothing or shelter, when we saw sick people suffering for inadequate healthcare. He looked forward to a day when we would no longer walk on the backs of our fellow man and would extend a hand of fellowship and brotherhood to lift him up to stand with us in our fellowship with God.
"I know you are asking today,” he said, “ ‘How long will it take?’
“Somebody's asking, ‘How long will prejudice blind the visions of men, darken their understanding, and drive bright-eyed wisdom from her sacred throne?’
“Somebody's asking, ‘When will wounded justice, lying prostrate on the streets of Selma and Birmingham and communities all over the South, be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men?’
“Somebody's asking, ‘When will the radiant star of hope be plunged against the nocturnal bosom of this lonely night, plucked from weary souls with chains of fear and the manacles of death? How long will justice be crucified, and truth bear it?’
“I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment, however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because ‘truth crushed to earth will rise again.’
“How long? Not long, because ‘no lie can live forever.’
“How long? Not long, because ‘you shall reap what you sow.’
"How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
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