American history can easily fall in the trap of hero worship. No better example of this would be the Founding Fathers. Men like Washington, Jefferson, Adams, Hamilton and Madison shaped our country and our principles. They our the Gods in our own creation myth and thus have been built as paragons of virtue, justice and freedom. Starting as early as the Parson Weems biography of George Washington where we famously learned the myths of "I cannot tell a lie", these men have become super humans over time even though during their lifetimes these mere mortals were inherently and deeply flawed. Few people get this mythical treatment after the American Revolution, notably Abraham Lincoln or Teddy Roosevelt, but one man who undeniably has entered this category is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. In fact, TIME Magazine was not subtle in placing King in that pantheon of demi-Gods. The problem is that, just like the Founding Fathers, separating the reality from the mythology of Dr. King's story is getting harder and harder with each subsequent generation. Dealing with how King was perceived during his life is quite different than where he is today. In order to understand the Letter from Birmingham Jail, we must take the time to explore not just who is Martin Luther King Jr. but who people thought he was. We need to understand his story and his role in the American narrative in 1963 to better understand how both of these things have changed over time and therefore the significance of "the Letter" has changed. So let's begin... The first thing we must understand is that, although Dr. King is about as universally beloved today as chocolate ice cream and paid vacations, King was as controversial as any figure in the 1960s in almost every single social strata.
The FBI was investigating King, constantly seeking evidence of either Communist sympathies or sinister intentions. Director J. Edgar Hoover actually called the King "the most notorious liar in the country". Indeed, many believed King was actually a Communist plant/spy/rebel who was a subversive threat meant to undermine and destroy America in a time where our country needed unity to fight the Cold War. I mean, if Colin Kaepernick can elicit such strong emotion for taking a knee during the National Anthem you can imagine what debate these protests were creating in America. Actually, you do not need to imagine because stories and events of racial tension, violence and accusations of police brutality have become pretty mainstream in 2017. In fact, despite King being championed as the hero of non-violence and a spiritual leader, this is only a partial truth. King courted violence from the oppressors and knew a good photo opportunity when he saw it, by using school age children to dramatize the cause (like in Birmingham 1963). Many people saw King's actions as incredibly violent since his non-violent actions "instigated" the violence. He was the culprit in many people's eyes, not the victim. It also made him a lightning rod. As for King's most famous moment, the "I Have a Dream Speech" during the March on Washington, this was thought to be an invitation towards rioting, violence and pure chaos in the capitol of the Free World. Kennedy worried that the March would do more harm than good if it devolved into the violence we had seen in places like Birmingham, Anniston and Greensboro. .In other words, the story you learned in elementary school is only a partial glimpse into a very complicated man and story. He was a man who would symbolize a movement, even though many other Civil Rights leaders either criticized or felt ostracized by the huge spotlight that followed the reverend. King is a human that is now sculpted in stone forever in the heart of Washington D.C., the hero we need but not necessarily the hero we deserve in America. His mythology allows us to deal with the messiness of racism, bigotry and segregation but when King writes this letter he must have no clue that this is how his legacy will be remembered. In 1963, the movement is on life support, fading from the public mind and still lacking a Civil Rights or Voting Rights Act as a way to end legalized segregation. He sees the movement on the precipice, staring at the potential abyss of another 100 years of unrealized rights. In order to properly delve into this document we must remember this. King is not a prognosticator, he has fears of the future and this letter is not full of the hope we expect from King but desperation. This is not just a statement but a plea. A plea that we must all listen to in order to understand our nation.
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