How was Martin Luther King Jr. viewed by white Americans at the time?
score:26
Actually, a good modern analogy might be to look at how white mainstream America views the Black Lives Matter movement currently1: open hostility from social conservatives, and a lot of patronizing disagreement on methods from Liberals and Moderates.
Where the analogy (probably?) breaks down is that there were a great many conservatives who flat out wanted the man dead (as evidenced by later events), and that the FBI felt he was a danger to the State, and treated him accordingly.
I think your best view of the attitude he had to deal with from white liberals comes from his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, which was written to address their criticisms.2 From it, we can discern the following criticisms from "Moderates" who claimed to be supportive:
- He was bringing in non-residents for his actions.
- The demonstrations themselves were problematic and frivolous.
- Private negotiation should be used instead of public disruption.
- He was creating lots of "tension".
- He was attacking a relatively supportive government before it had a fair chance it help them itself.
- He was demanding change too quickly.
- He was breaking laws.
- He was inducing whites to violence.
- He was inciting passions in his own people that might be leading to violence on their part.
Here's a video of MLK on NBC's Meet the Press in 1965 receiving this exact same treatment from a panel of white journalists two years later. All these criticisms will sound quite fresh, if you follow the discussions around current American social justice movements. Surprisingly little seems to have changed in that regard.
I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season."
1 - I am not equating the two directly. I'm just comparing the response they have received.
2 - Linked here is the letter that was the main catalyst for King's letter, written to attempt to undercut his support while he was conveniently in jail. As the last thing his jailors wanted was him responding, King's letter was written in the margins of newspapers and smuggled out piecemeal. However, its clear from the response that he was addressing more than just that one letter.
More post
- 📝 What is the historical accuracy of birth of lord Sri Krishna
- 📝 In 1914 why didn't Germany simply mobilize its army without declaring war?
- 📝 What was so technologically advanced about the snorkel?
- 📝 What are the primary sources for the Mongol sack of Baghdad?
- 📝 What is the object moving across the ceiling in this stock footage?
- 📝 Why did the southern states have to be readmitted?
- 📝 Religious sectarianism as the primary cause of the Bosnian War
- 📝 How was Enguerrand VII de Coucy able to keep his allegiance to both king of England and France during the Hundred Years War?
- 📝 Use of war elephants in Egypt
- 📝 Did Roman citizens vote in more than one legislative assembly?
- 📝 Before the advent of agriculture, was the whole world covered with forest?
- 📝 What do the last four digits of this postal cancellation stamp mean?
- 📝 How much faster is the theoretical rate of progress than the historical rate of progress?
- 📝 When did the U.S. Army start saying "oh-six-hundred" for "6 AM"?
- 📝 Pre-Roman structures in Northern Europe
- 📝 Identification of the dagger/mini sword which has been in my family for as long as I can remember (and I am 80 years old)
- 📝 Is a WW2 German bank note with a LITZMANNSTAND symbol possibly fake?
- 📝 Why was Calcutta a node in the opium smuggling network prior to the Opium Wars in China?
- 📝 How did the Axis intend to hold the Caucasus?
- 📝 Is it true that many great ancient warriors were vegan?
- 📝 Could some of the Titanic passengers have climbed on the iceberg to survive?
- 📝 Warship Identification Needed
- 📝 When did people understand where children come from?
- 📝 Why did PvdA and not KVP provide the prime minister in the Kabinet Drees-Van Schaik (1948-1951), despite KVP being the largest party?
- 📝 Did Soviet Union really consider using atomic bomb against US aircraft battlegroup?
- 📝 Why didn't Great Britain give the colonies voting rights?
- 📝 What language was the Charter of Liberties written in?
- 📝 What is the name of the theory opposite to the Great Man theory?
- 📝 How heavy was the taxation in Ming China?
- 📝 Why was "leaping into the river" a valid trial outcome to prove one's innocence?
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 How was Martin Luther King Jr. viewed by white Americans at the time?
- 📝 What time of day was the White House burned in August of 1814?
- 📝 Approximately how much travel time was saved by the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869?
- 📝 How was Christian intermarriage with the Muslim Turks viewed by the Byzantines?
- 📝 How common was it for Americans to visit Europe in the late 19th century?
- 📝 How was Enguerrand VII de Coucy able to keep his allegiance to both king of England and France during the Hundred Years War?
- 📝 Did Viet Nam suffer a famine any time during the 1980s? And if not, how close was it to famine?
- 📝 How big was the percentage of white people in the USA who were not against granting the blacks equal rights?
- 📝 How much leisure time was enjoyed by English peasants in the 16th century?
- 📝 Was Columbus viewed as a failure at the time of his death?
- 📝 How did Martin Luther King Jr. Day become a day of service?
- 📝 How was the literacy rate of Americans impacted by the establishment of public schools?
- 📝 How old was the youngest white person sentenced to death in the U.S.A?
- 📝 What was the attitude towards Martin Luther among early non-Catholic Christians in Britain?
- 📝 How much damage was USSR already capable of doing by the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis?
- 📝 Was England called England in the days of King Arthur?
- 📝 How serious was Fermat's statement about the ancients?
- 📝 How and when was the modern company ownership structure invented?
- 📝 How was the United States able to produce excellent tanks in 1942?
- 📝 How did Native Americans refer to themselves in the 19th century?
- 📝 When was the last time a reigning monarch personally participated in battle?
- 📝 How popular was the Soviet Union?
- 📝 Was there a King of England, or an heir to the throne, in 1831 who idolized Michael Faraday?
- 📝 How difficult was to escape from a naval battle after engaging into one during the Age of Sail?
- 📝 How likely is it that any non-Celtic language was spoken in the British Isles when the Romans invaded?
- 📝 How significant was the Fall of Constantinople as an event leading to the Age of Exploration?
- 📝 How and why was the boundary between West and East Berlin decided to be where it was?
- 📝 How difficult was it to spoof the sender of a telegram in 1890-1920's in USA?
- 📝 How was the modern geographic boundary between Europe and Asia decided?
- 📝 How was the Luftwaffe able to destroy nearly 4000 Soviet aircraft in 3 days of operation Barbarossa?