What Would Martin Luther King Jr. Say about Critical Race Theory?

            Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that he shared with America on August 28, 1963, nearly sixty years ago. Some of the most quoted lines of his speech are, “I have a dream that my four little 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.” 

            Those words still sound across the nation even though 54 years have passed since the death of King. We know how he felt then about judging each other by color. The question is, what would he say about the racial tensions in America today? Would he support critical race theory, or would he condemn it?

            Alveda King, one of MLK’s nieces, believes that he would oppose critical race theory because it “was socially engineered by Marxists and socialists, by people who don’t believe in God.” She said that King’s message to America center on the gospel of Jesus Christ because he wanted Americans to “serve God [and] serve others.” In a podcast with Virginia Allen, Alveda King made the following statement. 

I believe that if the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. were here right now, he would encourage us to continue to learn to live together as brothers – and I’ll add in sisters – or perish together as fools….

Now, what many people do not understand is that, first, Martin Luther King Jr. loved God. He wasn’t perfect, and no human beings are. He loved God.

So I believe if he were here today, he would say to us, in the face of everything that we are encountering – whether it be COVID, or race wars, or horrible things happening to the weather, calamities, and disaster – I believe he would ask us to look forward in this new year with faith, with hope, with love….

I believe I don’t even have to speculate on what Martin Luther King Jr. would say, because he said it during his lifetime. He wrote it, he said it, he spoke it. And he talked about a day when there would be no white power, no black power, only God power working in human power.

            According to Alveda King, MLK would be against abortion as well as critical race theory. Those people who profess to follow MLK in their demands of America do not know what he taught. King wanted all people to live together as brothers and sisters – no matter their race or religion – and to protect the unborn and vulnerable. King had a good dream, one that all Americans should adopt. 

Martin Luther King

                    As today is a legal, federal holiday named in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr., I suppose that I should write something about Dr. King.  I wrote the facts of his life and death here; therefore, I do not plan to write them again.

                    It has been nearly fifty years since Dr. King made his "I have a dream" speech on August 28, 1963, from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.  More than 200,000 people were in the crowd that day.  His speech became a rallying cry for black Americans.  This momentous event took place before the Civil Rights Act, before the Voting Rights Act, and before the race riots across our nation. 

                    This speech was a clarion call in an effort to unify our nation in a time of great turmoil.  It was a speech that became a classic of world oratory.  It is a speech that should be read today; therefore, I will include a few lines from it in my blog.

                    So I say to you, my friends, that even though we must face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.  It is a dream deeply rooted in the American 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 one day …, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood….

                    I have a dream my four little 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….

                    With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

                    With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, …, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

                    This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with new meaning:  `My country 'tis of thee; sweet land of liberty; of thee I sing; land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride; from every mountainside, let freedom ring.'

                    And if America is to be a great nation, this must become true.

                    So let freedom ring….

                    I have a firm belief in the words of the Declaration of Independence that say, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  No one - no person of any color, creed, religion, sex, age, sexual orientation, etc - no one should be discriminated against.  Every person is a son or a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father and should be treated with respect and justice.   

Dr. King believed in "social justice" - redistribution of wealth.  I do not.  Every person should "carry their own weight" to the fullest extent possible.  I believe that we should be able to obtain that for which we are willing and able to work for.  I believe that no one deserves to reap the benefits of the labor of someone else.  We should all be judged by the quality of our character and not by the color of our skin - or any other difference.