Yesterday was the federal holiday in honor and memory of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I am grateful that we celebrate this day as a nation in recognition of this great American prophet and leader of a faith-based non-violent movement for racial and social justice. Yet as the years pass, there is a dangerous temptation to domesticate Dr. King through using the same self-selected quotes and self-selected memory of the movement. This tendency is vividly expressed in the following poem:
NOW THAT HE IS SAFELY DEAD
BY CARL WENDELL HINES
A Dead Man’s Dream
Now that he is safely dead,
Let us praise him.
Build monuments to his glory.
Sing Hosannas to his name.
Dead men make such convenient heroes.
For they cannot rise to challenge the images
That we might fashion from their lives.
It is easier to build monuments
Than to build a better world.
So now that he is safely dead,
We, with eased consciences will
Teach our children that he was a great man,
Knowing that the cause for which he
Lived is still a cause
And the dream for which he died is still a dream.
A dead man’s dream.
Carl W. Hines Jr. penned this devastating poem in 1965 on the occasion of the assassination of Malcolm X, but it is often, and perhaps more appropriately, associated with the murder of Martin Luther King Jr.
One way to avoid this dangerous temptation is to take time to learn about the real Dr. King and the movement he led, especially staying open to the challenges he lifted up that still need to be faced in our nation today. The video posted below comes from an interview he did in May of 1967 less than a year before his assassination. By that time, Dr. King called the nation to move beyond being content with being “decent” people who opposed the obvious brutality of southern racists like Bull Connor in Birmingham or Sheriff Jim Clark in Selma. Instead Dr. King expressed frustration with the unwillingness of most white people in the south and north to move toward genuine racial equality. He summarized the main obstacles to equality as the interrelated triplets of evil – racism, poverty, and militarism. These triplets of evil are still with us today, and we are called to face and resist them however they manifest themselves. The video is well worth your time, and I especially call your attention to the following sections: In 10:07-13:46, Dr. King emphasized the lack of commitment to true equality and the white backlash that follows any steps of progress. In 19:53-21:25, Dr. King calls for a revolution of values that calls for a restructuring of society in order to eliminate the triplets of evil. I believe that these words of Dr. King in general and the highlighted sections in particular still ring true today. If we dare to heed these words and commit to working for true equality, we can and will avoid the dangerous temptation expressed in the poem “Now That He Is Safely Dead.”