Countering the Comfortable King Mythology

By Joel A. Bowman, Sr.

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Exactly 55 years ago today, while on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was struck down by an assassin’s bullet.

Dr. King was in Memphis, Tennessee advocating for the humane and equitable treatment of the city’s mostly Black sanitation workers.

The night before his assassination, he delivered his famous “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech at Mason Temple Church of God in Christ. It was in this speech that he prophetically addressed his own death.

Today, many may ask, “How could someone murder such a peaceful and non-violent man who preached about brotherhood?” The problem with this question is that it’s rooted in an overly simplistic view of Dr. King’s legacy.

This whitewashed narrative has been pushed in countless classrooms around the country, for years. I call it the “Comfortable King Mythology.”

The Comfortable King Mythology is readily embraced by white folks who find a romanticized narrative easier to digest. This false version of Dr. King never says anything to make them feel uncomfortable.

The mythology is even embraced by Black folks who have not studied beyond the popular narrative they’ve been spoon-fed. It’s easier for them to embrace a narrative deemed acceptable by most white people.

The truth is, while Dr. King was certainly a man of peace, he was also seen as a clear threat to the power structures and social order of his day.

After all, on April 4, 1967, exactly a year prior to his murder, he gave an address at the Riverside Church, which was a scathing repudiation of the Vietnam War. By this time, he was persona non grata in the American media.

If people are only exposed to the typical excerpts of the “I Have a Dream” speech, they will have a very shallow and distorted view of one of the most pivotal people in American history.

The same King who spoke of peace said, “A riot is the language of the unheard.”

The same King who spoke of brotherhood said, ‘I must confess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate.”

The same King who spoke of love said, “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

The same King who spoke of equality said, “We can’t solve our problems unless there is a radical redistribution of economic and political power.”

The same King who spoke of the dignity of work said, “… the solution to poverty is to abolish it directly by a now widely discussed measure: the guaranteed income.”

Dr. King was focused on moving people to the point of holy discomfort. He wanted to make people so uncomfortable that they would be motivated to confront injustice.

Dr. King was labeled a communist while he was alive. If Dr. King were still living, he would surely be dismissed by many as a “cultural Marxist,” “critical race theorist,” and “woke.”

I dare say anyone who seeks to carry on Dr. King’s true legacy in our current context will be dismissed in similar fashion.

So, the real question is, Are you ready to be labeled, dismissed, and demeaned, for the cause of justice?

Think on these things.