James H. Cone - Martin & Malcolm & America: A Dream or a Nightmare

Martin & Malcolm

& America

Martin & Malcolm & America

A Dream or a Nightmare

JAMES H. CONE

Founded in 1970, Orbis Books endeavors to publish works that enlighten the mind, nourish the spirit, and challenge the conscience. The publishing arm of the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers, Orbis seeks to explore the global dimensions of the Christian faith and mission, to invite dialogue with diverse cultures and religious traditions, and to serve the cause of reconciliation and peace. The books published reflect the views of their authors and do not represent the official position of the Maryknoll Society. To learn more about Maryknoll and Orbis Books, please visit our website at www.maryknollsociety.org.

Copyright 1991 by James H. Cone
First paperback edition July, 1992
Published by Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY 10545
Manufactured in' the United States of America
All rights reserved

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Cone, James H.
Martin & Malcolm & America: a dream or a nightmare / James H. Cone.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and notes.
ISBN 0-88344-721-5 (cloth) 0-88344-824-6 (pbk.)

1. King, Martin, Jr., 1929-1968Philosophy 2. X, Malcolm, 1925-1965Philosophy 3. King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968Religion. 4. X, Malcolm, 1925-1965 Religion. 5. Afro-AmericansIntellectual life. 6. Afro-Americans Religion. 7. United States Race relations. 8. Black nationalism.United States. I. Title. II. Title: Martin and Malcolm and America.
E185.97.K5C66 1991
973'.0496073022 dc20
90-14159 CIP

EBOOK ISBN: 9781608330409

To C. Eric Lincoln
Beloved Friend,
Scholar, and Teacher

PREFACE

This book is about Martin Luther King, Jr., and Malcolm X -- their relationship to each other and their meanings for America. The "dream" and "nightmare" images are used to focus their perspectives on America and to reveal something about the audiences to whom and for whom they spoke.

In memory as in life Martin King and Malcolm X are still highly controversial African-American leaders. More than twenty years after their assassinations, their names arouse passionate acceptance or rejection, and few people, black or white, have unbiased opinions about them. Thus it is important for any interpreter to beware of misleading notions about them that ,ire promoted by both their admirers and detractors. The best way to gain reliable knowledge about Martin and Malcolm is through a careful examination of the life and thought of each figure in relation to the other and in the light of the two main resistance traditions in African-American history and culture integrationism and nationalism.

In the introduction, the meaning of integrationism and nationalism for African-American intellectual history is briefly described, and a plea is made to freedom-loving Americans to turn to Martin and Malcolm for resources in the struggle for justice.

Chapters 1 and 2 analyze the social origins of Martin's dream and Malcolm's nightmare by examining the family contexts which shaped their perspectives on America.

In chapters 3 and 4, I examine the first stage of their thinking on the dream and nightmare from the beginning of their public ministries in the 1950s through 1963 (Malcolm) and 1964 (Martin). This was the period when their differences were most pronounced, especially regarding their understanding of freedom and the means by which it could be achieved.

Martin and Malcolm were, respectively, Christian and Muslim ministers. Chapters 5 and 6 show how their views of America were influenced by their religious beliefs.

Popular images of Martin and Malcolm seldom acknowledge their movement toward each other and their break with earlier deeply held convictions about America. Malcolm's "chickens came home to roost " in 196365 (chapter 7). His heart wrenching break with Elijah Muhammad, his spiritual father, initiated a new stage in his thinking. Malcolm began to acknowledge the value of Martin King's contribution to the black freedom movement. He began to advocate "hope," that is, the participation of African-Americans in the American political process.

Martin King's dream was shattered in 196568 (chapter 8) as he observed the nightmare in America's cities and on the battlefields of Vietnam. He began to talk like Malcolm X. In Martin's and Malcolm's radical shifts in perspective, they came to appreciate each other's views about America.

Martin and Malcolm illuminate the two roads to freedom that meet in the African-Americans' search for identity in the land of their birth. These roads are traveled in chapter 9.

Martin and Malcolm were nothing but men, with all the strengths and weaknesses pertaining to their gender. Only as we consider their weaknesses (chapter 10) can we really appreciate their strengths (chapter 11).

I hope that we have the imagination and the insight to appreciate their great legacies. God knows the African-American community needs Martin and Malcolm. America needs them too. Together Martin and Malcolm can help this nation to move closer to the goal of justice for all.

A word should be said about the uses of the terms "Negro," "African," "black," and "Afro-American." Because Martin King used the term "Negro" when he referred to the African-American community, I have frequently used it when articulating his views. Malcolm X despised the term "Negro" as a self-designation. He preferred "African," "black," and "Afro-American." These terms are employed to express his perspective.

The reader is entitled to know the perspective which has shaped my interpretation of Martin and Malcolm and the audience to which this book is primarily directed. I am an African-American theologian whose perspective on the Christian religion was shaped by Martin King and whose black consciousness was defined by Malcolm X. In more than twenty years of writing and teaching black liberation theology, I have been attempting to relate Malcolm X and Martin King to Christian living in America, seeking to show that justice and blackness are essential ingredients in the identity of the Christian faith for African-Americans.This book is an examination of the meaning of justice and blackness in America in the context of the lives and thought of Martin King and Malcolm X. While it focuses on the African-American struggle for justice and identity, I hope that other people will find something useful for their struggles as well. I do not expect all persons to agree with what Martin, Malcolm, and I say about justice and blackness in America. I only hope that they will recognize that our proclamations for and against America are in fact expressions of our love for humanity. Unless America recognizes the rights of human beings, its future is doomed. I write because I believe in human beings. "We shall overcome!"

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I have enjoyed researching and writing this book. Daily for ten years I have been listening to audiotapes and watching videotapes of Martin's and Malcolm's speeches, reading their published and unpublished writings, as well as what others have written about them, and talking to people who knew them personally. I am deeply grateful to the many people who were generous with their time, challenging with sharp and insightful criticism, and very supportive with personal encouragement. There are, of course, too many to name, but some persons must be mentioned.

I am especially grateful for the support of the Union Seminary community its board, administration, faculty, students, and staff. President Donald Shriver, former dean Milton Gatch, and my colleagues in the Theological Field deserve a special word of thanks for their support and encouragement. The faculty also read a selection of my research and devoted several sessions to a critical discussion of it, In my class on Martin and Malcolm, Union students told me what they thought about what I was writing. I love teaching at Union chiefly because of the quality of the commitment and intellect of its students. They have challenged and nurtured me during twenty-one years of teaching and particularly during the writing of this book.