Martin Luther King: The Great and Fallible Man [Opinion]

Editor’s note: The views expressed in this post are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the outlook or beliefs of anyone else in the IST network.

It was 83 years ago yesterday when Martin Luther King, Jr. was born into a nation where simply his skin color alone was enough to designate him a second class citizen and prevent him and his family from enjoying such basic human dignities as living, eating, or travelling where they want, or voting for elected representatives without encumbrance or limitation. It can be difficult sometimes for modern Americans who weren't born or didn't live during the civil rights era to comprehend the gross inequalities and devastating economic and social racism that was encoded into our very laws throughout America just 50 years ago.

Martin Luther King, Jr. did not let these obstacles stand in the way of his fight for justice, however, and he was well equipped with the intelligence and drive to succeed. He completed high school at age 15 by skipping both the 9th and 12th grades and enrolled at Morehouse College in Atlanta. At 19 he had a Bachelor's of Sociology degree and was ordained a Baptist Minister at 22. In 1951, MLK began his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology in studies at Boston College and Harvard, and he was a doctor before his 27th birthday. But intelligence and motivation are not enough to change the world. Dr. King certainly had those things as well, but he also had a determined sense of justice and equality combined with incredible skill at communicating his unfailing belief in the foundational concept of our nation's constitution, that all men are created equal and deserve basic human rights.

We celebrate Dr. King's extraordinary life and achievements today thanks to a national holiday passed in 1986 by a bipartisan majority of Democrats and Republicans in Washington; we also reflect on the impossibility of such a vote being held in today's intransigent, corrupt, and broken American political system. In 38 states, Republican legislatures either introduced or passed laws designed to limit access to voting by American citizens who lack specific kinds of government issued identification, with up to 25% of African-American voters disenfranchised from the most basic of American values, the right to vote.

But since that vote in 1986, blue collar and middle class workers have seen their incomes remain flat or decrease while the richest and most privileged among us have attained the kind of wealth that would make King Midas blush, and confidence in our political leaders is at an all time low. We celebrate a man of greatness in a time of terrible American weakness in both our economy and in our leadership and wish fervently for such a man as Dr. King to appear again. The great tragedy, of course, is that so many of us have it in ourselves to lead our communities and run for office if we just let go of our idol worship and recognize that great men like Dr. King are also human, with human weaknesses and flaws just like each one of us.

The narrative we tell about Martin Luther King, Jr. is filled with cultural norms about civil rights, human dignity, courage, and leadership because those elements defined the man, and were defined by the man in his actions. He was the youngest man to receive a Nobel Peace Prize, and he continued his work toward peace and equality in spite of often violent opposition until the day he was assassinated. Few narrative accounts of Doctor King, however, recount his "weakness for women," or his “numerous extramarital affairs”, or the reported FBI surveillance tape of Dr. King from the Willard Hotel on the day before his assassination with 14 hours of recorded partying and sex. Indeed, our history is replete with examples of heroic figures and great achievements that fail to also account for the very “humanness” of the individuals involved. And that is or greatest failing in our memories of Dr. King and others like him. He was indeed a great man, and he was also a fallible man.

If we truly wish to celebrate the legacy of Dr. King, we should not let our fears or our weaknesses hinder us from fighting for equality and justice every day. The forces at work against our American ideals of basic fairness and equality want us to think we are too weak or too divided, or that our past failures or current weaknesses as humans disqualify us from public service and leadership. And those forces are always ready to use the power of the media to shame, denigrate, and destroy anyone who stands against them by merely highlighting the very human qualities and weaknesses we all share in some form or another.

Dr. King was a great man, and he was a man with human weaknesses. It was not that he was perfect that made him great, it was that he was imperfect and did great things anyway. His words are as powerful a message as any to remind us that we can carry on his work despite, or perhaps because of, our shared quality of individual flaws: "Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. you only need a heart full of grace. a soul generated by love." If we want things to change in our country, whether it be at the local school board, city council, or Washington, D.C., then it is up to each of us to change them. Thank you, Dr. King, for showing us how.