Martin vs. Malcolm: The Olive Branch and The Arrow

The Olive Branch

He spoke with a vibrato that stirred the souls of a nation. Distorted echoes of his words are still heard today. His short life was a testament to the power of righteous indignation, when combined with love, and the will to persevere. He was a preacher, a scholar, and a father, but the overriding evidence of his actions and decisions shows the true essence of Martin Luther King, Jr.: He was a freedom fighter. The simplification of his message into one of hope and integration can be misleading. The fighter that wrote, “Why We Can’t Wait”, has been reduced to a beggar asking for America’s acceptance. The tree of King’s legacy has been whittled into a crutch of hope for a hobbled nation. As children, American students are spoon fed a simplistic version of King summed up in a few lines at the end of his “I Have A Dream” speech, “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal… I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

In the same speech Dr. King said, “There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges”! Does that sound like a weakling to you? A man begging for justice?

“The militancy of these words can easily be relieved if one points out that King rushed to caution black militants against mimicking the hatred of white bigots.”(Dyson) Still, Martin Luther King was not laying down in acceptance of his fate but rather strategically pushing forward his cause.

By being uplifted King as a peaceful symbol of a post-racist utopia King has been marginalized. In turn people lose sight of the fact that he was a radical. Why wouldn’t he be? Martin Luther King Jr. was Christian, and Christ was a radical. Repeatedly, Jesus taught people to believe in and live a spiritual and ethical life based in our essential, inherent goodness. What Jesus promoted was succinct set of spiritual principals and a way of life based upon love, compassion, tolerance, and a strong belief in the importance in giving and of generosity to those in need. King did the same.

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