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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

King holiday a good time to reflect on leadership

In the aftermath of the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala., an Associated Press reporter caught up with former President Harry S. Truman during a morning walk in New York City and asked him his opinion.

“There are plenty of Negro leaders, and they’re good ones. Martin Luther King is a rabble-rouser. He’s not a leader. He has hurt his cause, because he hasn’t any sense.”

Remember, this is the same president who boldly desegregated the Army in 1948, so he was hardly a backward thinker. But even after King’s leadership and courage led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and a Nobel Peace Prize, Truman held a low opinion of the man.

A lot of people did.

While complete racial harmony will never be achieved, it’s a sign of progress that King’s actions and words are almost universally praised today. It was easy for white leaders back then to call for incremental change or a “go-slow” approach. They weren’t the victims of inequality. Similarly, the pitched battles over whether King was worthy of a holiday have subsided. There are no serious efforts to turn back.

That’s not to say there aren’t people who don’t like the man or his legacy, but they generally have the sense to keep it to themselves. That’s not to say that racists aren’t in our midst, but they prefer the safety of anonymity.

In the wee hours of Jan. 8, someone spray-painted a swastika on the car of a Coeur d’Alene woman who has the temerity to invite African-American friends to her house. A couple of weeks before that, some men drove by the house and shouted racial names while flying a Confederate flag.

If that approach had been King’s idea of courage, we would never have heard of him.

Since last spring, this is the eighth documented case of racist idiocy in the region. In none of the cases did the perpetrators issue a forthright declaration of their complaints. They declined to promote their ideas in the light of day. No, it’s anonymous newsletters. Drive-by taunts. Surreptitious vandalism. Flying fists against an outnumbered victim.

It’s convictions without courage, which is the antithesis of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy.

So on Monday as we honor the great civil rights leader, let’s also remember the power of his message. Without bullying, terrorizing or raising of fists, King’s words and deeds transformed the nation’s ideology on race. They quieted the snarling dogs. They inspired revolutionary legislation.

The best explanation for why King needed to march across that bridge out of Selma and “raise rabble” in general comes from Truman himself, who once said:

“Men make history, and not the other way around. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.”