VCC Magazine Spring 2019

V irginia C apitol C onnections , S pring 2019 6 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. is the unknown king. He has been caricatured as a “dreamer” by politicians and mainstream Americans who want convenient quotes that have the potential to inspire good feelings on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day and avoid taking serious action to end the rising tide of racism. However, King was far more than a dreamer: he was an intellectual, an activist, a minister, and a Christian prophet whose legacy can help us fight this new wave of hate. For over a decade, we have witnessed the re-emergence and retrenchment of old racial attitudes, racial animus, and its accompanying twins of racial separation and violence. It has been a painful period for many African Americans and progressive whites, who had hoped that we were further along in race relations, though we never believed in the myth of a post-racial America.What we found was that the election of Barack Obama as the first African American President unleashed a new wave of racism still being felt in the deepest parts of our communities and collective psyches. From the increasing number of white supremacist groups openly parading in our communities to harassment and micro-aggressions like black patrons having the police called on them for no reason, racism persists and sadly, is growing. America is a decade into a period eerily similar to previous decades like the 1850s and 1960s that witnessed controversy, strife, debate, violence, protest, and a push for new laws and policies to address injustice. As these things continue to unfold, it becomes more and more apparent that, as a nation, we really did not listen to nor learn from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  For the past five decades, we have tried to honor Dr. King. In January 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed a proclamation declaring the third Monday in January a national holiday. In Washington D.C. in August 2011, a national monument was dedicated in his honor. Special services are held to honor his legacy with speakers referring to him as a dreamer who inspired America. Clips of his famous, “I Have a Dream,” speech are aired on television and social media during the month of February. Attempts to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have resulted in little more than lip service on the part of most Americans because we ignore the history of slavery and segregation that informed his life, thinking, and advocacy work. Americans will watch a clip of his “I Have a Dream” speech or visit the King Monument in Washington D. C., but they won’t study the ideas that fueled the freedom struggle in America.  There is a difference between looking at a monument and studying a text. What does a monument do? It is a symbol. Without the weight of King’s intellectual and spiritual thought, though, can it make a difference? Studying a text is different. Texts can draw us into another world and open our eyes to the world as it was. King does that. He takes readers back into a period grossly misrepresented in history texts. His writings introduce us to important ideas such as nonviolent resistance, direct action, redemptive suffering, redemptive love, the philosophy of gradualism, justice, the new Negro, and the beloved community. His writings challenge our values and commitments as he explains how you cannot be neutral in the struggle for justice, that silence is consent, that religion should not be the puppet of the state, how militarism undercuts funding for social programs for the poor, and that a democracy must be inclusive. The theme of this issue of  Capitol Connections Quarterly Magazine  is  Race and Reconciliation . I applaud the editors for keeping the conversation about race in America before us with the hope that we will continue doing things to repair and reconcile the brokenness ingrained in a country built on the enslavement and legal discrimination of millions of Africans for centuries. My contribution to this conversation is to remind America of one of our leaders, a Christian prophet and towering intellectual, whose writings can help us address racial injustices and the growing estrangement we are witnessing today. I believe that studying Martin Luther King, Jr.’s writings is a different way to honor him, a way sorely needed today. His teachings on nonviolent direct action as the way to challenge an unjust system, his teachings on the role of struggle in the quest for social change, his beliefs in the importance of love and forgiveness, and, more importantly, his teachings on the manifold impact of slavery on the modern African American community all shed invaluable light on problems today and point a way forward for all Americans. King also showed us how to love one’s country and faith community enough to challenge practices that do not reflect the best of what it represents. His ideas and actions can help us bridge the divide separating millions of Americans today. I hope that America expands its appreciation and understanding of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Yes, King was a great civil rights leader, but he was also an intellectual. King earned a Ph.D. in systematic theology from Boston University. He put much thought into the campaigns, initiatives, and speeches that spearheaded the Civil Rights Movement, a movement that changed America and was celebrated around the world. His ideas and writings should be a part of the intellectual life of America. This means King should be read and studied in public and college education throughout this country. Children need to read excerpts of his writings rather than simply coloring pictures of him. Courses in United States history taught in our colleges and universities should devote a unit to King’s writings. Americans should study King’s writings like we study other influential Americans. James M. Washington’s book, A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. , should be an American classic. I would even encourage churches, both white and black, to offer special classes on King because he illustrates how to take Christian ideas and the teachings of the Bible and use them outside the walls of church buildings. Maybe then, he will cease to be the unknown King. Dr. Lewis Brogdon is the Dean of Institutional Effectiveness and Research and Associate Professor of Christian Studies at Bluefield College in Bluefield, Virginia. He is the author of several books and numerous journal articles and book chapters. He is a sought out preacher, lecturer, and panelist. The Unknown King: Why America Needs to Read Martin Luther King Jr.’s Writings By Dr. Lewis Brogdon, Bluefield College Children need to read excerpts of his writings rather than simply coloring pictures of him. “ ” V