WEBVTT - How Was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Perceived During His Time?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff, Lauren boge obam here. Martin Luther King

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<v Speaker 1>Junior's birthday is a national holiday here in the United States.

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<v Speaker 1>His leadership in the struggle for civil rights and his

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<v Speaker 1>promotion of non violent tactics have made him an international

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<v Speaker 1>icon of social justice. But that wasn't always the case.

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<v Speaker 1>King was assassinated on April fourth, ninety eight, but historians

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<v Speaker 1>tell us that it wasn't King's work while he was alive,

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<v Speaker 1>nor even his murder that changed his reputation in the

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<v Speaker 1>minds of most Americans. In writing the article that this

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on, back in ten, we spoke with

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<v Speaker 1>Jean Theo Harris, who teaches political science at Brooklyn College

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<v Speaker 1>and is the author, most recently of A More Beautiful

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<v Speaker 1>and Terrible History, The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History.

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<v Speaker 1>Her book is an attempt to get beyond the myths

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<v Speaker 1>that have arisen about the civil rights movement and look

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<v Speaker 1>at how it was really seen then and what it

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<v Speaker 1>means for us now. Many Northerners, for example, believe if

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<v Speaker 1>the King was always a beloved figure, and that his

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<v Speaker 1>crusade against the Jim Crow South was widely celebrated in

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<v Speaker 1>the North, but the o'harris points to a New York

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<v Speaker 1>Times pole from nineteen sixty four, the same year that

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<v Speaker 1>the Civil Rights Act was passed, that shows a majority

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<v Speaker 1>of white New Yorkers thought the civil rights movement had

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<v Speaker 1>gone too far, and a national pole in nineteen sixty six,

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<v Speaker 1>just two years before King's death, found that only twenty

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<v Speaker 1>eight percent of white Americans had a favorable opinion of King.

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<v Speaker 1>A separate nineteen sixty six poll found that seventy eight

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<v Speaker 1>percent of black Americans approved of King's work in the

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<v Speaker 1>fight for civil rights. The o' harris said, the general

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<v Speaker 1>public does not support the civil rights movement when it's happening.

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<v Speaker 1>The same criticisms made against Colin Kaepernick and the Black

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<v Speaker 1>Lives Matter movement today in were trotted out against Martin

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<v Speaker 1>Luther King, and Rosa Parks sixty years ago. They were disruptive,

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<v Speaker 1>they were called extremists. They were accused of moving too fast,

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<v Speaker 1>going too far. All these things we see today have

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<v Speaker 1>parallels in the civil rights movement. Even King's famous I

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<v Speaker 1>Have a Dream speech at the nineteenth three March for

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<v Speaker 1>Jobs and Freedom in Washington, d C. View today is

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<v Speaker 1>the high water mark of the movement, and King's short,

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<v Speaker 1>yet impactful career was delivered under a cloud of fear

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<v Speaker 1>and tention. THEO. Harris said, we think of the March

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<v Speaker 1>on Washington as the most American event ever at the time,

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<v Speaker 1>it wasn't seen like that local and federal law enforcement

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<v Speaker 1>prepared for it, like it was an invasion. Many Americans

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<v Speaker 1>also believed that King's work ended with the passage of

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteen sixty four Civil Rights Act and the nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>sixty five Voting Rights Act. We also spoke back in

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<v Speaker 1>tween the Claiborne Carson, history professor at Stanford University and

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<v Speaker 1>founding director of the Martin Luther King Junior Research and

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<v Speaker 1>Education Institute. He pointed out that King didn't retire after

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<v Speaker 1>the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Carson said, he

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<v Speaker 1>was in Chicago the next year dealing with problems more

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<v Speaker 1>national in scope that are still with us today. He

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<v Speaker 1>was dealing with the question of war, and now we're

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<v Speaker 1>living in an era of perpetual war. He was dealing

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<v Speaker 1>with the issue of poverty on the day that he died.

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<v Speaker 1>If Martin Luther King were alive today, he would say

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<v Speaker 1>that the landmark legislation was a tremendous victory, but it's

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<v Speaker 1>made us very complacent about his goal of global human

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<v Speaker 1>rights and social justice. That was his big picture. So

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<v Speaker 1>if King was distrusted and maligned by mainstream America during

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<v Speaker 1>his life, was it his martyrdom at age thirty nine

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<v Speaker 1>that changed public opinion and transformed him into an almost

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<v Speaker 1>saintly American hero. Not immediately, says THEA. Harris, explaining that

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<v Speaker 1>it took fifteen years of lobbying by civil rights leaders

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<v Speaker 1>and sympathetic legislators to finally convince Congress to commemorate Martin

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<v Speaker 1>Luther King Day. President Ronald Reagan, who was against the

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<v Speaker 1>holiday during his first term in office because he agreed

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<v Speaker 1>with former FBI Director J Edgar Hoover the King was

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<v Speaker 1>a Communist, changed his tune when he was running for

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<v Speaker 1>re election and needed to close a sensitivity gap with

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<v Speaker 1>minorities and women. By signing the bill in three that

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<v Speaker 1>made King's birthday in national holiday. Reagan's skillfully laid out

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<v Speaker 1>the elements that would become the national fable, Reagan said

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<v Speaker 1>in a statement at the time. Now our nation has

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<v Speaker 1>decid to honor Dr Martin Luther King, Jr. By setting

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<v Speaker 1>aside a day each year to remember him and the

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<v Speaker 1>just cause he stood for. We've made historic strides since

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<v Speaker 1>Rosa Parks refused to go to the back of the bus.

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<v Speaker 1>As a democratic people, we can take pride in the

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<v Speaker 1>knowledge that we Americans recognized a grave injustice and took

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<v Speaker 1>action to correct it. And we should remember that in

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<v Speaker 1>far too many countries, people like doctor King never have

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<v Speaker 1>the opportunity to speak out at all. THEO. Harris says

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<v Speaker 1>that Reagan's genius was to frame King's story as another

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<v Speaker 1>example of American exceptionalism. Quote, we had an injustice and

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<v Speaker 1>we corrected it. It's all about the power of individuals

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<v Speaker 1>and the power of American democracy. These will be key

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<v Speaker 1>elements in terms of how the civil rights movement comes

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<v Speaker 1>to be memorialized in our national culture. By nineteen eighty seven,

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<v Speaker 1>four years after the creation of m L. K Day

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<v Speaker 1>and nearly twenty years after King's murder on a hotel

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<v Speaker 1>balcony in Memphis, Tennessee, a full seventy six percent of

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<v Speaker 1>Americans had a favorable opinion of King, and those numbers

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<v Speaker 1>only continued to grow. By nine nine, King came in

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<v Speaker 1>second on a gallop survey of twentieth century individuals that

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<v Speaker 1>Americans admired most, behind Mother Teresa. Political scientist Sheldon Appleton

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<v Speaker 1>wrote in that younger, college educated white Americans tended to

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<v Speaker 1>support King, and both of these demographics were larger in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen eighty seven than in nineteen sixty six. He also

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<v Speaker 1>noted that the widespread lack of knowledge about King and

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<v Speaker 1>the civil rights movement in general might have also influenced

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<v Speaker 1>earlier perceptions. Appleton wrote, perhaps recent media treatment of King

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<v Speaker 1>has helped to induce selective memory by some middle aged

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<v Speaker 1>and older Americans. Of course, Americans have every reason to

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<v Speaker 1>venerate Martin Luther King and to celebrate his accomplishments. He

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<v Speaker 1>didn't do it alone, and he had his flaws like

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<v Speaker 1>any other human. But as Carton explains, he also had

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<v Speaker 1>an undeniable gift for challenging Americans then and now to

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<v Speaker 1>make good on the promise of our founding principles. Carson

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<v Speaker 1>said he had that ability to link the goals of

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<v Speaker 1>the civil rights struggle to ideals that most Americans believe

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<v Speaker 1>that they have. That that's what he was doing in

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<v Speaker 1>the I Have a Dream speech in Washington. We as

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<v Speaker 1>a nation justified our independence with a human rights statement

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<v Speaker 1>called the Declaration of Independence. The question is can we

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<v Speaker 1>live up to that? Today's episode was written by Dave

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<v Speaker 1>Ruse and produced by Tyler Clang. For more on this

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<v Speaker 1>and lots of other topics, visit has Stuff works dot com.

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