Speaking of Martyrs: The 40th Anniversary of the Assassination of Dr. King

To be a martyr requires three things:

1. You have to actually achieve something against all apparent odds;
2. You must then set your sights on a daunting goal that will not be achieved during your lifetime but will be achieved after your death; and,
3. You must get yourself killed in a timely fashion.

This is the stuff of martyrdom. Take two post WWII examples:
JFK and King.

John F. Kennedy was a war hero, a senator, but these are not the qualities that he achieved against great odds.

What he achieved against great odds was overcoming the barriers of his religion (Catholic) to become the first President of Catholic faith. He also had to overcome the debacle of Al Smith, the first Catholic nominated for President by a major political party, the Democratic Party in 1928.

Next, Kennedy set his sights on the moon. This goal was not achieved during his lifetime, but it was achieved following the President’s assassination.

Next, the President was assassinated.

The King story is not different: Dr. King achieved a great deal before his untimely death: He ended segregated transportation, the Montgomery Boycott, he obtained the actual right (as opposed to the Constitutional right of the Fifteenth Amendment, passed specifically in 1870 to give black Americans the right to vote) by getting the Voting Rights Act of 1965 passed, and he was able to force white America to give blacks their citizenship right in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Next, King espoused kicking out the last leg of the table of legal segregation by the passing of a national fair housing act. This was partly due to the fact that JFK had refused to immediately sign an executive order, as he had promised during his campaign for President, to outlaw segregated housing in federal housing projects. The fair housing act was not passed during King’s lifetime-but President Johnson used King’s assassination to drum up political support to get the 1968 Fair Housing Law passed.

Next, prior to the passage of the 1968 Fair Housing Law, Dr. King was assassinated.

So, I guess the question is this: Why do we humans have to kill the prophet to realize the prophet’s dream?


© 2008 by Lenton Aikins
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Lenton Aikins, Ph.D., J.D.Dr. Aikins has traveled widely, lived abroad in Europe and Latin America, recently spending three years in Costa Rica as Director of a Spanish Language school. He holds a Ph. D. in Political Science from University of Southern California, a Juris Doctor in Law from Western State University, College of Law. He is the author of many articles and of While African Americans Slept: Leadership by Parasites, now available at: http://lentonaikins.com, and available in all bookstores July 1, 2008. You can read his daily blog: Go to: http://lentonaikins.com and click on blog.