What would Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy say in response to today's shootings? The simple answer is, "I don't know."
But why do I ask? Because King and Kennedy, on days of distress, spoke with a very different focus than much of the commentary today.
It is remarkable to me that so much energy is invested today in seeking to classify the suspect as a member of the opposite political team or, as a very reluctant second choice, merely a "nut" who cannot credibly be assigned to anyone's team.
The perceived importance in establishing the suspect's team is predicated on the belief that the team and its fans are responsible for the actions of the suspect. In this rush, many people seem to lose the important distinction between one of a group (the suspect, who is responsible for his actions) and most or all of a group (the people who may share similar political beliefs but who do not encourage or condone violence).
It is also remarkable to note the amount of hate directed at the people other than the suspect.
And to the extent that our progress depends on changing the minds of people who hold different views than our own, we should consider how best to change those minds. "Nutpicking" -- ascribing the attributes of one nut to a group as a whole -- name-calling and hating are likely not to be effective.
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King lead the largest and most successful social movement in the country's history. King didn't "nutpick" and he did not call people names. King did not hate.
In his book, Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, King wrote of the bombing of his home in Montgomery in 1956:
In this atmosphere I walked out to the porch and asked the crowd to come to order. In less than a moment there was complete silence. Quietly I told them that I was all right and that my wife and baby were all right. "Now let’s not become panicky," I continued. "If you have weapons, take them home. We cannot solve this problem through retaliatory violence. Remember the words of Jesus: ‘He who lives by the sword will perish by the sword.’ " I then urged them to leave peacefully. "We must love our white brothers," I said, "no matter what they do to us. We must make them know that we love them. Jesus still cries out in words that echo through the centuries: ‘Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; pray for them that despitefully use you.’ This is what we must live by. We must meet hate with love. Remember," I ended, "if I am stopped, this movement will not stop, because God is with the movement. Go home with this glowing faith and this radiant assurance."
Later that evening, King had difficulty sleeping:
I could not go to sleep. While I lay in that quiet front bedroom, with a distant street lamp throwing a reassuring glow through the curtained window, I began to think of the viciousness of people who would bomb my home. I could feel the anger rising when I realized that my wife and baby could have been killed. I thought about the city commissioners and all the statements that they had made about me and the Negro generally. I was once more on the verge of corroding anger. And once more I caught myself and said: "You must not allow yourself to become bitter."
King was a giant. He did not hate.
On April 4, 1968, the evening of King's death. Kennedy was scheduled to make a campaign stop in front of a largely black crowd in Indianapolis, Indiana. Kennedy learned prior to speaking that that the crowd had not yet learned of King's death. Here's what Kennedy said:
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I'm only going to talk to you just for a minute or so this evening, because I have some -- some very sad news for all of you -- Could you lower those signs, please? -- I have some very sad news for all of you, and, I think, sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world; and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.
Martin Luther King dedicated his life to love and to justice between fellow human beings. He died in the cause of that effort. In this difficult day, in this difficult time for the United States, it's perhaps well to ask what kind of a nation we are and what direction we want to move in. For those of you who are black -- considering the evidence evidently is that there were white people who were responsible -- you can be filled with bitterness, and with hatred, and a desire for revenge.
We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization -- black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another. Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.
For those of you who are black and are tempted to fill with -- be filled with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling. I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.
But we have to make an effort in the United States. We have to make an effort to understand, to get beyond, or go beyond these rather difficult times.
My favorite poem, my -- my favorite poet was Aeschylus. And he once wrote:
Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
until, in our own despair,
against our will,
comes wisdom
through the awful grace of God.
What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.
So I ask you tonight to return home, to say a prayer for the family of Martin Luther King -- yeah, it's true -- but more importantly to say a prayer for our own country, which all of us love -- a prayer for understanding and that compassion of which I spoke.
We can do well in this country. We will have difficult times. We've had difficult times in the past, but we -- and we will have difficult times in the future. It is not the end of violence; it is not the end of lawlessness; and it's not the end of disorder.
But the vast majority of white people and the vast majority of black people in this country want to live together, want to improve the quality of our life, and want justice for all human beings that abide in our land.
And let's dedicate ourselves to what the Greeks wrote so many years ago:
to tame the savageness of man and make gentle the life of this world. Let us dedicate ourselves to that, and say a prayer for our country and for our people.
Thank you very much.
Does the method of King and Kennedy have merit today?