Table Of Content

MisreMeMbering Dr. King This page intentionally left blank MisreMeMbering Dr . K i ng revisiting the legacy of Martin luther king jr. S jennifer j. yanco Indiana University Press Bloomington & Indianapolis This book is a publication of The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the Indiana University Press American National Standard for Information Office of Scholarly Publishing Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Herman B Wells Library 350 Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1992. 1320 East 10th Street Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA Manufactured in the United States of America iupress.indiana.edu Library of Congress Cataloging- Telephone 800-842-6796 in-Publication Data Fax 812-855-7931 Yanco, Jennifer J. © 2014 by Jennifer J. Yanco Misremembering Dr. King : revisiting the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. / Jennifer J. Yanco. Quotations from the writings of Martin pages cm Luther King, Jr., are reprinted by arrangement Includes bibliographical references. with The Heirs to the Estate of Martin ISBN 978-0-253-01424-5 (eb) Luther King, Jr., c/o Writers House as 1. King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968. 2. King, agent for the proprietor New York, NY. Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968—Political and social © 1968 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. views. 3. Civil rights movements—United States— © renewed 1996 Coretta Scott King History—20th century. 4. Nonviolence—United All rights reserved States—History—20th century. 5. Civil rights workers—United States—Biography. 6. Baptists— No part of this book may be reproduced or United States—Clergy—Biography. I. Title. utilized in any form or by any means, electronic E185.97.K5Y36 2014 or mechanical, including photocopying and 323.092—dc23 recording, or by any information storage and [B] retrieval system, without permission in writing 2013050152 from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition. 1 2 3 4 5 19 18 17 16 15 14 To the memory of my father, Allan Julian Yanco, 1921–2012 This page intentionally left blank A civilization can flounder as readily in the face of moral and spiritual bankruptcy as it can through financial bankruptcy. Martin Luther King Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? This page intentionally left blank Contents Preface xi Acknowledgments xv Introduction: Memory and Forgetting 1 The Misappropriation of Memory 4 1. What We Remember 9 Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement 12 Dr. King and Nonviolence 16 2. What We Forget: Dr. King’s Warning about the “Giant Triplets” 20 Militarism 21 Materialism 34 Racism 51 3. Why It Matters 70 Whose Problem? White America’s Special Responsibility 71 A Challenge for All of Us 78 Notes 83

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We all know the name. Martin Luther King Jr, the great American civil rights leader. But most people today know relatively little about King, the campaigner against militarism, materialism, and racism-what he called the ""giant triplets."" Jennifer J. Yanco takes steps to redress this imbalance. ""M