The Blow to Martin Luther King Jr’s other cheek (op-ed)

Riot apologist end arguments by quoting Martin Luther King Jr., “Riots are the voice of the unheard.” But what did King mean?

King used the phrase on different occasions after riots broke out in American cities in 1965. King wanted to extend the struggle for equality beyond the southern states and needed to reach a new demographic that denounced non-violence.

Also in 1965 SNCC (Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee) sought to break away from traditional civil rights tactics. Eventually Stokely Carmichael emerged as SNCC’s new chairman chanting a new slogan: Black Power

In 1966, during a CBS interview, King was questioned about the rejection of non-violence. King admitted there was a vocal minority, but pointed out, most were on his side. King said, “I contend that the cry of ‘black power” is, at bottom, a reaction to the reluctance of white power to make the kind of changes necessary to make justice a reality for the Negro. I think that we’ve got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the economic plight of the Negro poor has worsened.”

King understood the language of civil disobedience which declared segregation immoral and broke its laws to be heard. King didn’t chastise he sympathized with the outcry against immoral conditions. But it was also the only option for acceptance outside the Deep South.

1967 was a year of violence.

The New York Times reported in 1967 alone, there were 4 dozen riots and over one hundred lesser incidents of civil unrest. King made a speech earlier in the year at Stanford University. This time King said, “Riots are socially destructive and self-defeating … So I will continue to condemn riots … But at the same time riots don’t just come out of thin air … Certain Conditions continue to exist in our society which must be condemned as vigorously as we condemn riots.” King also said during that speech, “That in a real sense it is impractical for the Negro to even think about mounting a violent revolution in the United States.” He made this statement because the promoters of “Black Power” were attempting to organize an armed insurrection.

The Chicago Tribune reported August 1967 Stokely Carmichael, black power advocate, said on Havana radio, “American Negros have no alternative but to wage guerrilla war in the cities … The only solution to America’s racial problems is the destruction of capitalism.” The Tribune also quoted a Carmichael speech from the previous year when he called riots “rebellions” and urged Negros “not to obey any law we didn’t take part in.”

That same year Stokely Carmichael and Charles V. Hamilton published a book called Black Power: The Politics of Liberation in America. The term institutional racism was originated and defined in this book. King also published a book called, Where do We go From Here? Community or Chaos. Carmichael and Hamilton’s book was praised. King received mixed reviews. One critics said King was finished as a national leader. He was outstripped by his times, overtaken by events he helped produced but could not predict. He is not likely to regain command.

Recently in Milwaukee another riot erupted over a police shooting. This time no white or unarmed person was involved. A black officer shot an armed black man. Rioters chanted “black power” as they burned down stores. And a black Alderman said, “Black people are tired of oppression. This is a warning cry. Where do we go from here?”

First published in New Pittsburgh Courier 8/24/16