#1 Not a Saint, but a Hero: Lessons from King Today

“I don’t want to sanitize Martin Luther King Jr.,” said [Professor Cornel] West, who teaches in Princeton’s Center for African American Studies and is the author of “Race Matters” and 19 other books. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t even mention his name without shivering and shuddering.” – AP Article

Like any national icon, we run the risk of sanitizing Martin Luther King—envisioning a feel-good story where the American nation confronted its ugly racial past, and thanks to the sacrifice and vision of King and Rosa Parks, America was able to confront its conscience and change for the better. By doing so, we have created an American icon—a slightly chubby African American saint who we eulogize and sanctify by invoking his name a few times a year, and by continually talking about some dream he had about some post-racial harmony.

While King as national saint and icon has a little value, however, it does a great discredit to the man, and to the thousands and millions who strived with him, to summarize his life in the above paragraph. What’s sad is that so many groups will use King to champion their own causes—having memorized a few pithy quotes by him that back their words, for example, the quote that “everybody can be great because everybody can serve.” I don’t think everybody who quotes that realizes that King is referring to Christian idea of “If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.” Community service, non-profit work fit under the idea of “servant of all,” but under King’s conception, it’s not enough to just do one day of service a year, or chip in a few hours—but rather, through a lifetime of doing good and a lifetime of service.

Why do I bring this up? Because I believe that King’s life, his words, and ultimately, his example provide a powerful and still largely untapped source of motivation for causes throughout the world. One thing that prevents this, however, is the idea that we know who King is—and to gain a true appreciation of him, one has to lose the slightly chubby national icon, and be willing to have that be reshaped into, ultimately, a human with flaws, who made mistakes, and who in many ways was hardly perfect. Only by realizing how imperfect King is, I believe, can one comprehend just how much was done during that time, and how much of what was done during the Sixties remains applicable today.

By David Lai