As I type these words, the world is commemorating the death of a King. Martin Luther King Jr.’s murder has evoked a reflective state of mind amongst millions 50 years later.
I am one of those people who find myself analyzing the loss of such a great leader who was as imperfect as any of us yet more brave and uncompromising than most of us.
As I think of what the world lost that frightful evening at 6:01 p.m. in 1968, I can’t help but ask an alternate question: What more could we have gained had he lived?
My response to that question varies with each scenario having a drastically different outcome.
Blacks and America would be further along
When King was murdered, I believe the souls and fight in a lot of people also died.
Congressman John Lewis who worked closely with King said, “When he died, I think something died in all of us.” And civil rights activist Heather Booth said King’s death “was like the breaking of a dream, the breaking of our hopes.”
Perhaps if King had lived, Blacks would have progressed even more. Perhaps we would be even further along than we presently are. While I have always believed that people in general are stronger and can accomplish things beyond the deeds of one particular person, having such a person as a vocal agent of change has its benefits. We saw evidence of that during King’s quest and in recent years. We witnessed it with Barack Obama. Sometimes it takes one person’s courage to evoke a change in mindset and true change.
If King lived beyond his 39 years and were alive today, Blacks as a whole might be entirely different. I can’t help but believe that we would have accomplished even more. More of us would have obtained college degrees, be employed and earning more than the 82 cents of every dollar made by our white counterparts, and fewer of us would be incarcerated. If King were alive today we would have even more leaders rise up under his tutelage and the sense of urgency that was evident during the Civil Rights Era would have persisted amongst Blacks. We would have even more encouragement and examples of greatness. If both King and Robert Kennedy were alive today, America as we know it would also be drastically different because we would have had an earlier start on transitional reform that would have made this country live up to its creed of being one nation, united and indivisible.
He may have had a more difficult time maintaining supporters
While many of King’s efforts resulted in small victories that he witnessed, had he lived, he may have had difficulty maintaining his core supporters because even his perspectives were changing, which would have resulted in different strategies of execution. Often, people talk about how in their later years of life Malcolm X became less radical and King became more intentional and radical. That wasn’t such a foreign shift for either one of them who had devoted the majority of their public lives toward their initial ideologies. Whether in business, politics or activism, the approach of leaders often changes in an effort to accelerate progress, attract a new following or way of thinking, or simply to diversify one’s perspectives and deliverables. As younger generations aged, some may have viewed King as “old school” and couldn’t relate to his teachings or his advocacy efforts. Or, perhaps because some progress had ensued, they wouldn’t understand the need to continue fighting for the cause.
He would have left
the public eye
If King had lived, perhaps the rigor of his advocacy and the expense his family paid for his efforts would have worn on him so he left the public life. Those close to him have stated that King often considered returning to Georgia and possibly becoming president of his alma mater Morehouse College.
David Garrow, author of King biography “Bearing the Cross” said, “By 1968, King is so exhausted and so drained physically and mentally that he’s on an emotional edge that he’s never been before. Doc’ so often over the years had always fantasized about stepping out of the public eye and just going back to being a minister and teaching a philosophy course at Morehouse.”
If King had opted for a life removed from the public eye, I doubt his desire to work toward change would end. Instead, his focus would change and he would work more strategically behind the scenes with others leading the public cause of the day. When one has the level of passion and advocacy as King, completely disassociating from it is virtually impossible.
