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The Radical King

Nikki Pastor

Drury University
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an African American who fought for social justice in the

mid-twentieth century. The American people celebrate his legacy on Martin Luther King Jr. Day,

and many try to live by his example. People today quote the words of Dr. King hoped that people

will “not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character” (King, King,

& Washington, 1992, p.104). This quote is admirable and allows people to only focus on the idea

of an equal, united society. Although Dr. King desired an unsegregated society, he also

demanded more progressive changes. Society idealises Dr. King as a man seeking equality for all

races while disregarding him as a man who broke laws and disturbed the peace in order to

accomplish social justice. In March of 1965, King helped organize a march that many people,

including the governor of Alabama, opposed. The march was from Selma to Montgomery and

represented African Americans fight for their right to vote. The speech Dr. King gave is an

example of a more radical Dr. King who opposed and fought against a society who oppressed

African Americans.

Before Dr. King came to Selma, he was famous in America for his role in the

Montgomery boycott, his Nobel prize, and his many inspiring speeches. When Dr. King first

gave a speech to the people of Selma, Amelia Boynton Robinson described Dr. King's speech as

uplifting and providing people courage (Robinson). King’s speeches were hopeful and gave

people a vision of an undivided world. These types of speeches are still quoted today. However,

King’s speeches also insisted for African American rights and told people he would not stop

fighting until social justice was met. In a newspaper article, a reporter interviewed Dr. King

about what he wanted changed. He stated that America needed “desegregation of all public

facilities”, “merit employment on the part of the city and county”, “appointment of biracial
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committee”, and “all charges dropped against all participants in demonstrations who were

peaceful and broke no unjust laws” (Chelsy, 1964). King would go on to point out the faults in

American society and government, the type of faults people tend to ignore. King’s speeches

force people to acknowledge the dilemma in America. To solve these issues, Dr. King said that

activist will “continue on the streets” to “keep the issue before the consciences of the nation”

(Chelsy, 1964). Dr. King was a man who wanted change and would continue to disturb the peace

until social justice was achieved.

When he wanted fair voting regulations in Selma, he helped organize a march and

prepared a speech telling the American people what America needed to change. Dr. King stepped

up to the podium in front of the thousands of people who joined him to witness his speech about

Selma. He began with his acknowledgment to the people and then announced their success over

those who tried to stop their demonstration. He applauded the people for being able to stand

together for one cause and called out segregationist such as Governor George Wallace for

latching onto the old ideas of segregation. He spoke about how the march was to fight for

African Americans to vote and to also expose the racial separation in the South. He condemned a

segregated society and they “...segregated southern money from the poor whites”, “southern

mores from the rich whites”, “southern churches from Christianity”, “southern minds from

honest thinking”, and “the Negro from everything” (King, King, & Washington, 1992, p.122).

People do not normally remember Dr. King for exposing oppressors and their actions what,

however, his speech in Selma is one of the many examples of his more radical works. Dr. King

continued his speech by encouraging more effort towards social justice.

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Along with the success of the march, Dr. King wanted people to feel triumphant and to

continue “ moving to the land of freedom”(King, King, & Washington, 1992, p. 122). He wanted

people to continue advocating for integration, reduced poverty, and fair voting. Voting problems

in Selma included“...literacy tests, economic intimidation, and violence” (Crosby, 2018). People

also had to find registered vouchers to prove their eligibility to vote (Robinson). Dr. King wanted

the limitations of voting eradicated and he wanted to elect public officials “...who will not fear to

do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with their God” (King, King, & Washington, 1992, p.

122-123). By the end of his speech, Dr. King reminded people not “humiliate the white man but

to win his understanding” (King, King, & Washington, 1992, p.124). Then he explained that one

day society will find peace and that day will not be the day of the white or black man but a day

for all of man. Here is an example of the King people are more familiar with, the King who

wanted to unite the people. King’s vision of an equal society continued until the end of his life,

but he pointed out the cruel reality of society and what it took to reach his dream. After the

speech, he was in an interview with the New York times and said, "We will continue to march

people to the courthouses, [i]f there is resistance, naturally we will have to expose the resistance

and the injustice we still face" (Reed, 1965). Dr. King was persistent and was willing to bring

attention to American problems. Since Dr. King was willing to bring change, he accumulated

many supporters.

Many people from the 1960s supported ideas from Dr. King that people today would not

approve. During the marches in Selma, Dr. King sent out a telegram asking for the help of

clergymen in American by saying that “[n]o American is without responsibility” and “[t]he

people of Selma will struggle on for the soul of the nation, but it is fitting that all America help
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to bear the burden” (Morrison-Reed, 2018). He called upon all Americans to take on the

responsibility to create change. The kind of responsibility he expected from people would make

Americans today uncomfortable because it might require them to fight for a cause that does not

directly affect them. People such as Rev. Orloff Miller, Rev. James Reeb, and Rev. Clark Olsen

answered Dr. King’s call even they were white men who did not have to fight for their voting

rights. All three men had a family at home wife who did not want them to risks their lives for this

march but they knew they had to go to support Dr. King’s cause (Morrison-Reed, 2018). The

march was dangerous because the state of Alabama opposed it and took extremes measures to

stop it before. Despite the dangers, these men knew they could not stand by and watch African

Americans dying for their rights. Not only did the state of Alabama oppose the march and Dr.

King, other Americans opposed Dr. King for his methods of social disturbance.

While some Americans supported Dr. King, other people did not approve of his method

of social disturbance. When Dr. King was trying to organise the marches in Selma, Governor

George Wallace sent a telegram to the president telling him that the marches would “pose some

of the greatest internal problems ever faced by this nation” ("Case Study: The Selma Conflict").

He continued by saying Dr. King’s efforts were not towards voting but rather a form of defiance

towards the government, and if the president did not take action, it would threaten the safety of

the people and the order of a lawful society ("Case Study: The Selma Conflict"). Wallace was

not the only person concerned about Dr. King’s “attack” against a just society. In an address by

William L. Dickinson, he felt that people like Dr. King were fighting for problems that did not

exist and were only causing disturbance in the south. His article mentioned that the people in the

march were having interracial sex in the tents during the march. Dickinson's emphasis on the
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“immoral” acts that were occuring during the march implied his scepticism about the true intent

of the demonstrators (U.S. House, Citizens Council, 1965). He later suggested that Dr. King had

communist support. He explained that communists were using Dr. King and the civil rights

movement to separate the south from the rest of the country (U.S. House, Citizens Council,

1965). People who opposed King were trying to emphasis that there were no issues against

African Americans right to vote and Dr. Kings true intent in the march was to cause social

disturbance. These people thought that Dr. King was trying to fix an “unbroken” society and

rejected his efforts.

Dr. King disturbed the peace and organized a march against the will of the state. He gave

a speech about a segregated society while emphasizing the importance to continue the fight

against an unfair system. If people today understood his actions in Selma, they would probably

side with the conservatives who did not want to disturb the peace and the social norm. People

would look back on King as a man who wanted everyone to be seen as equal and ignore the

unconventional actions he took. In an article addressing the misappropriation of Dr. King, the

general population explained that they prefered to only focus on the quotable King who only

preached about equality (Tisby, 2017). However, another commentator compared King’s words

with Jesus’s teaching and said that people “...cherry-picked the warm, fuzzy things that Jesus

said while ignoring all the things he said that would make them uncomfortable” (Tisby, 2017). If

people forget all the ideas that King stood for, they ignore the message and mission that he spent

years fighting for. People need to understand his words and actions in order to continue the

legacy of a man who spent thirteen years of his life fighting for the rights of African Americans

and other oppressed people in the world.

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Works Cited

Case Study: The Selma Conflict. (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2019, from

http://web.stanford.edu/group/instr_design/case_study/selma/

Chesley, M. N. (1964, June 07). What Manner of Man Is Leading America's Negro

Revolution. ​Daytona Beach News Journal​, p. 1. Retrieved March 1, 2019, from

https://cdm16000.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16000coll6/id/246

Crosby, E. (2018, March 18). The Selma Voting Rights Struggle: 15 Key Points from

Bottom-Up

History and Why It Matters Today. Retrieved March 1, 2019, from

https://www.teachingforchange.org/selma-bottom-up-history

U.S. House, Citizens Council. (1965, March 30). ​Address by Representative William L.

Dickinson​(W. L. Dickinson, Author) [H.R. Doc. 57 from 89th Cong., 1st sess.]. Retrieved

March 1, 2019, from http://clio.lib.olemiss.edu/cdm/compoundobject

/collection/citizens/id/1222/rec/38

King, M. L., King, C. S., & Washington, J. M. (1992). ​I have a dream writings and speeches

that changed the world.​ New York, NY: HarperCollins.

Morrison-Reed, M. (2018, April 04). Selma's challenge. Retrieved March 1, 2019, from

https://www.uuworld.org/articles/selmas-challenge

Reed, R. (1965, March 25). 25,000 Go to Alabama’s Capitol; Wallace Rebuffs Petitioners; White

Rights Worker is Slain. ​The New York Times.​ Retrieved March 1, 2019, from

https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/990325onthis

day_big.html#article
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Robinson, A. B. (n.d.). Interview with Amelia Boynton Robinson [Interview]. Retrieved

March 1, 2019, from http://repository.wustl.edu/concern/videos/x059c891p

Tisby, J. T. (2017, January 16). The Misappropriation of Martin Luther King, Jr. Retrieved

March 1, 2019, from https://thewitnessbcc.com/misappropriation-martin-luther-king-jr/