Beyond The Dream: 7 Lesser Known Facts About Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Every year on the third Monday in January, the United States 
celebrates the life of civil rights activist Dr. Martin Luther 
King Jr.

King is widely known and respected for his commitment to racial 
equality, advocating for a nonviolent method of social changes 
and preaching unforgettable words to mass audiences.

While popular memory has enshrined this image of King, the late 
civil rights leader was a man of many positions and actions, as 
well as the occasional flaw.

As one observes this year's MLK Day, consider some of the lesser 
known factoids about the life and views of King.

1. King Opposed the Vietnam War

Ultimately, it probably makes a lot of sense that a man who 
championed nonviolence to enact change would be antiwar.

In 1967, exactly one year before his assassination, King 
delivered a speech titled "Beyond Vietnam" at New York City's 
Riverside Church.

King took exception to the war in part because of the belief 
that resources being used to fight in Vietnam were being taken 
from domestic improvement programs.

"We were taking the black young men who had been crippled by our 
society and sending them eight thousand miles away to guarantee 
liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in 
southwest Georgia and East Harlem," stated King.

2. King Opposed Homosexuality

During the 1950s, King was an advice columnist for the African-
American publication Ebony magazine.

In 1958, an unnamed teenager wrote a letter to King, noting that 
he was struggling with homosexual thoughts.

"I am a boy, but I feel about boys the way I ought to feel about 
girls. I don't want my parents to know about me. What can I do?" 
queried the young man.

King responded to the question, referring to homosexuality as a 
"problem" and encouraging the youth to seek counseling.

"Your problem is not at all an uncommon one. However, it does 
require careful attention. The type of feeling that you have 
toward boys is probably not an innate tendency, but something 
that has been culturally acquired," wrote King.

"Therefore, it is necessary to deal with this problem by getting 
back to some of the experiences and circumstances that lead to 
the habit. In order to do this I would suggest that you see a 
good psychiatrist who can assist you in bringing to the 
forefront of conscience all of those experiences and 
circumstances that lead to the habit."

3. King Held a Negative Opinion of Malcolm X

King and Malcolm X have oftentimes been grouped together, most 
likely because they had a common enemy in white supremacy.

Yet the two charismatic and influential activists were hardly on 
the same page when it came to each other, especially regarding 
tactics and ethics.

In Chapter 25 of his autobiography, King noted that he had met 
Malcolm X briefly at one point in Washington but found the 
Nation of Islam member disagreeable.

"I totally disagree with many of his political and philosophical 
views — at least insofar as I understand where he now stands," 
wrote King.

"I feel that Malcolm has done himself and our people a great 
disservice. Fiery, demagogic oratory in the black ghettos, 
urging Negroes to arm themselves and prepare to engage in 
violence, as he has done, can reap nothing but grief."

Given that Malcolm X called the famous March on Washington for 
jobs and freedom the "Farce on Washington" and called King "Rev. 
Dr. Chicken-wing," the feeling of disagreeableness might have 
been mutual.

4. King Plagiarized His Doctoral Dissertation

A man known for his compelling rhetoric and memorable quotes, an 
academe with years of college under his belt, it might come as a 
shock that King once engaged in plagiarism.

In October of 1991, Boston University announced that King 
plagiarized portions of his doctoral dissertation 36 years 
before.

"Despite its finding, the committee said that 'no thought should 
be given to the revocation of Dr. King's doctoral degree,' an 
action that the panel said would serve no purpose," reported The 
New York Times.

"But the committee did recommend that a letter stating its 
finding be placed with the official copy of Dr. King's 
dissertation in the university's library."

For their part, The Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project 
addressed the plagiarism in Volume II of The Papers of Martin 
Luther King Jr. titled "Rediscovering Precious Values, July 1951-
November 1955": Although the extent of King's plagiaries suggest 
he knew that he was at least skirting academic norms, the extant 
documents offer no direct evidence in this matter," stated the 
Project.

"King's actions during his early adulthood indicate that he 
increasingly saw himself as a preacher appropriating theological 
scholarship rather than as an academic producing such 
scholarship."

5. King Opposed Barry Goldwater's Presidential Campaign

While oftentimes having to deal with the wrath of southern 
sheriffs who belonged to the Democratic Party, Dr. King did not 
necessarily spare the Republican Party any criticism.

When limited government proponent Barry Goldwater became the 
Republican nominee for president in 1964, King called on blacks 
and whites to vote against him.

"On the urgent issue of civil rights, Senator Goldwater 
represented a philosophy that was morally indefensible and 
socially suicidal," wrote King in his autobiography.

"While not himself a racist, Mr. Goldwater articulated a 
philosophy which gave aid and comfort to the racist. His 
candidacy and philosophy would serve as an umbrella under which 
extremists of all stripes would stand."

King even took these complaints internationally. On a trip to 
the Netherlands in August of 1964, he again took time to 
criticize Goldwater.

"For the first time a major political party has nominated a man 
who articulates views that are totally out of harmony with the 
mainstream of American thought and views that are more in line 
with the 18th century than the 20th century," said King.

6. King Supported the Removal of Faculty-led Prayer in Public 
Schools

King was a clergyman, an activist who very much believed that 
churches should be involved in social change movements.

He headed an advocacy group called the Southern Christian 
Leadership Conference; but that did not mean he did not have 
limits on how much church and state could mingle.

In an interview published by Playboy in 1965, King explained 
that he supported the then recent U.S. Supreme Court decision 
removing faculty-led prayer from public schools.

"Contrary to what many have said, it sought to outlaw neither 
prayer nor belief in God. In a pluralistic society such as ours, 
who is to determine what prayer shall be spoken, and by whom? 
Legally, constitutionally or otherwise, the state certainly has 
no such right," said King.

"I am strongly opposed to the efforts that have been made to 
nullify the decision. They have been motivated, I think, by 
little more than the wish to embarrass the Supreme Court."

7. King Used to be a Michael

How different history would be indeed! There is evidence to 
indicate that Martin Luther King Sr., father of King, was 
originally Michael Luther King.

Furthermore, there is a murky possibility that official records 
involved the men doting the names Michael Luther King Sr. and 
Michael Luther King Jr.

Snopes.com vetted the claim and was able to turn up remarks from 
King Sr. that came from a speech given in 1957:

"I had been known as Michael Luther King or 'Mike' up until I 
was 22 ... when one day my father, James Albert King, told me: 
'You aren't named Mike or Michael either. Your name is Martin 
Luther King. Your mother just called you Mike for short,'" said 
King Sr.

"I gladly accepted Martin Luther King as my real name and when 
M.L. was born, I proudly named him Martin Luther King Jr. But it 
was not until 1934, when I was seeking my first passport ... 
that I found out that Dr. Johnson, who delivered M.L., had 
listed him in the city records as Michael Luther King Jr., 
because he thought that was my real name."

Comments:

3:05 PM on January 18, 2016
1. A chronic adulterer. 2. A plagiarist. 3. A hypocrite.
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Salvadoran15
FOLLOWMUTE
12:36 PM on January 18, 2016
Another lesser known fact is that King denied the deity of 
Christ as well as His resurrection. His final speech "I see the 
promised land" the night before he died is filled with his 
commitment to his socialistic ideals rather than the heaven of 
the Bible.
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Cesare Borgia
5 FOLLOWERSMUTE
12:16 PM on January 18, 2016
Looking at the monument of Dr. Martin Luther King it is evident 
he owed money to Jabba the Hut.
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Rowsedower
FOLLOWMUTE
11:21 AM on January 18, 2016
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a democratic socialist: I imagine 
you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic 
theory than capitalistic... [Capitalism] started out with a 
noble and high motive... but like most human systems it fell 
victim to the very thing it was revolting against. So today 
...more
Martin Luther King, Jr. was a democratic socialist:

I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my 
economic theory than capitalistic... [Capitalism] started out 
with a noble and high motive... but like most human systems it 
fell victim to the very thing it was revolting against. So today 
capitalism has out-lived its usefulness. (Letter to Coretta 
Scott, July 18, 1952)

"[W]e are saying that something is wrong ... with capitalism.... 
There must be better distribution of wealth and maybe America 
must move toward a democratic socialism. Call it what you may, 
call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there 
must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for 
all of God's children." -speech to his staff, 1966. less
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wookin panub
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9:13 AM on January 18, 2016
King rejected the belief in the physical, bodily resurrection of 
Jesus Christ :-( (1 Cor. 15:17) "17 And if Christ has not been 
raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins..."

http://www.christianpost.com/news/martin-luther-king-jr-7-facts-
about-civil-rights-leader-african-american-pastor-154980/
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