Excellent. Light always seems brighter when contrasted with deep shadow. MLK jr was a flawed human being which makes his accomplishments all the greater because they were not a result of his perfection, but in spite of his imperfections.
Thank you for this. It is always good to remember the messy reality of being a human and that still, we can do good things or in MLK’s case, great life changing things.
I’ll admit, as an ardent MLK, Jr. fan - I was coming with pitchforks with this think piece. However, you are totally right.
Deification of historic figures is simply inaccurate. Worse, placing greats on pedestals does hold us back from measuring up to their achievements, if we continue to think what greats did in their time is beyond reach due to their alleged better moral character or inherent superiority.
I'm a boomer, child of the 60's. My father was my hero, MLK was his, and by extension, mine as well. We are all humans, with human frailties. How we live our lives despite those shortcomings, is a big measure of our humanity.
I am 73. As a teenager I admired MLK and still do. (By the way, I’m white.). I don’t admire him any less for his human frailties. He knew his life was at risk, but he carried on. Also, in the Sixties the Hoover FBI was constantly trying to dirty his name. So to the extent what we know about MLK’s personal life came from the FBI, those reports can only be trusted as far as we could trust the Hoover FBI.
I was expounding the virtues of FAIR to some friends yesterday during a large lunch to celebrate a friend's birthday. Then I opened this morning's FAIR roundup and read this article and another by Pastor Corey Brooks. Two great articles to help convince my friends that FAIR is the most sensible, pro-human way of resolving our political differences. Thank you Angel, for another great article. Bruce Danckwerts, CHOMA, Zambia
I wonder how many people really view MLK as a myth or a messiah. I think Angel is making a straw man argument here. King's character flaws are well known to anyone who has taken the time to know him. I didn't learn anything here that I didn't know already and, in my opinion, it doesn't help anyone, except those who wish to compare themselves with King perhaps, to better understand what he stood for and what he died for. Compared with his writing, his outward actions and leadership, living in constant fear of his life, these character flaws don't amount to a hill of beans. Perhaps there are some ways that we compare favorably to King in our character. On balance though, very few of us come anywhere close to his stature. King doesn't have to be viewed as a myth or a messiah to know that. In view of the ways we have disregarded King's teaching, example and vision to the detriment of race relations ever since his death, I think we need a renewed understanding and acceptance of his principles rather than his personal flaws.
Thought provoking insights. I would also be interested to know how the Reverend Dr. King viewed himself, his personal attitude and choices, in light of being a Christian minister in the Baptist tradition.
The flaw in the writer’s thesis is glaring and unaddressed. I will pose it as a question: Would White America have been sufficiently enamored of the preachy character of a philandering chain smoking charmer as to elevate him to sainthood so that his reputation could have the transformative impact that it did? We will never know, and perhaps better that the truth remained concealed until we, over time that was influence by the polished version gained the emotional maturity to handle the truth about the man...and about ourselves.
Of course you are correct. King wouldn't have been human if he didn't have human characteristics. He was the best person at a critical time in our history and is appropriately honored.
Forgive me please, I swear I’m not trolling, I’m just wondering, if you do a thought experiment and apply this same argument to Donald Trump could he be seen in the same light? I’m by no means a fan of his but I do wonder after reading this article if the proverbial shoe was on the other foot… a lot of people could say that Trump made positive changes during his term and that his flaws just make him more real? Again—not trolling! Please help me understand where the fine line is and why. Thanks!!
This inspiring article reminded me of something I read years ago about Mohandas Gandhi, MLK's inspiration for embracing non-violence protest. An internet search took me to numerous articles discussing Gandhi's lifelong struggle with his libido and his various strategies for containing it or succumbing to it.
In other words, both Gandhi and King had "issues with sex," as it were. However, this interesting symmetry only strengthens Mr. Eduardo's argument that flawed human beings (is there any other kind?) can and do take extraordinary risks based on highest principles that change the world for the better, and that's the way history should remember them.
(Because there are many articles on the topic of Gandhi's issues with sex, I'll leave it to interested readers to seek them out. They're easy to locate.)
Knowing his flaws as well as his virtues makes him a more rounded and relatable figure.
Exactly right. And exactly why the current push to remove statues and other remembrances of those who held slaves 200 years ago is equally misguided.
Excellent. Light always seems brighter when contrasted with deep shadow. MLK jr was a flawed human being which makes his accomplishments all the greater because they were not a result of his perfection, but in spite of his imperfections.
So very true, this is true of so many figures of history, it doesn't take away from their accomplishments, and indeed just makes them more human.
Thank you for this. It is always good to remember the messy reality of being a human and that still, we can do good things or in MLK’s case, great life changing things.
I’ll admit, as an ardent MLK, Jr. fan - I was coming with pitchforks with this think piece. However, you are totally right.
Deification of historic figures is simply inaccurate. Worse, placing greats on pedestals does hold us back from measuring up to their achievements, if we continue to think what greats did in their time is beyond reach due to their alleged better moral character or inherent superiority.
I'm a boomer, child of the 60's. My father was my hero, MLK was his, and by extension, mine as well. We are all humans, with human frailties. How we live our lives despite those shortcomings, is a big measure of our humanity.
I am 73. As a teenager I admired MLK and still do. (By the way, I’m white.). I don’t admire him any less for his human frailties. He knew his life was at risk, but he carried on. Also, in the Sixties the Hoover FBI was constantly trying to dirty his name. So to the extent what we know about MLK’s personal life came from the FBI, those reports can only be trusted as far as we could trust the Hoover FBI.
I was expounding the virtues of FAIR to some friends yesterday during a large lunch to celebrate a friend's birthday. Then I opened this morning's FAIR roundup and read this article and another by Pastor Corey Brooks. Two great articles to help convince my friends that FAIR is the most sensible, pro-human way of resolving our political differences. Thank you Angel, for another great article. Bruce Danckwerts, CHOMA, Zambia
I wonder how many people really view MLK as a myth or a messiah. I think Angel is making a straw man argument here. King's character flaws are well known to anyone who has taken the time to know him. I didn't learn anything here that I didn't know already and, in my opinion, it doesn't help anyone, except those who wish to compare themselves with King perhaps, to better understand what he stood for and what he died for. Compared with his writing, his outward actions and leadership, living in constant fear of his life, these character flaws don't amount to a hill of beans. Perhaps there are some ways that we compare favorably to King in our character. On balance though, very few of us come anywhere close to his stature. King doesn't have to be viewed as a myth or a messiah to know that. In view of the ways we have disregarded King's teaching, example and vision to the detriment of race relations ever since his death, I think we need a renewed understanding and acceptance of his principles rather than his personal flaws.
Thought provoking insights. I would also be interested to know how the Reverend Dr. King viewed himself, his personal attitude and choices, in light of being a Christian minister in the Baptist tradition.
The flaw in the writer’s thesis is glaring and unaddressed. I will pose it as a question: Would White America have been sufficiently enamored of the preachy character of a philandering chain smoking charmer as to elevate him to sainthood so that his reputation could have the transformative impact that it did? We will never know, and perhaps better that the truth remained concealed until we, over time that was influence by the polished version gained the emotional maturity to handle the truth about the man...and about ourselves.
Of course you are correct. King wouldn't have been human if he didn't have human characteristics. He was the best person at a critical time in our history and is appropriately honored.
Forgive me please, I swear I’m not trolling, I’m just wondering, if you do a thought experiment and apply this same argument to Donald Trump could he be seen in the same light? I’m by no means a fan of his but I do wonder after reading this article if the proverbial shoe was on the other foot… a lot of people could say that Trump made positive changes during his term and that his flaws just make him more real? Again—not trolling! Please help me understand where the fine line is and why. Thanks!!
Beautiful
This inspiring article reminded me of something I read years ago about Mohandas Gandhi, MLK's inspiration for embracing non-violence protest. An internet search took me to numerous articles discussing Gandhi's lifelong struggle with his libido and his various strategies for containing it or succumbing to it.
In other words, both Gandhi and King had "issues with sex," as it were. However, this interesting symmetry only strengthens Mr. Eduardo's argument that flawed human beings (is there any other kind?) can and do take extraordinary risks based on highest principles that change the world for the better, and that's the way history should remember them.
(Because there are many articles on the topic of Gandhi's issues with sex, I'll leave it to interested readers to seek them out. They're easy to locate.)