Reflections on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Black Social Gospel
“We have been forced to a point where we are going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn't force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them. Men for years now have been talking about war and peace. But now no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today.” - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech, April 3rd, 1968 Memphis, Tennessee.
In “Breaking White Supremacy: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Black Social Gospel,” Union Theological Seminary Reinhold Niebuhr Professor of Social Ethics Gary Dorrien writes about how the Black Social Gospel of the late 19th century and early 20th century, at its zenith during Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.’s leadership, had the distinct qualities, vision, and inspiration to end legal racial discrimination in America. In Chapter 1, “Achieving the Black Social Gospel,” Dorrien writes,
“The founder of the black social gospel had key affinities with their sometime allies in the white social gospel and Progressive movements. They conceived the federal government as an indispensable guarantor of constitutional rights and principles of justice; they espoused typical Progressive beliefs about equality, politics and social progress and they wrestled with modern challenges to religious belief. But black social gospel leaders addressed these things very differently from white progressives, for racial oppression trumped everything in the African American context and refigured how other problems were experienced. Here the belief in a divine ground of human selfhood powered struggles for black self-determination and campaigns of resistance to white oppression.” (Page 3)
“The social gospel mattered to King because it was inherently social, it held fast to the gospel belief in salvation, and it was unabashedly political, a call to transform the structures of society in the direction of social justice…But the social gospel acquired its name by proposing to change society, making a society a subject of redemption. It was political without apology, building up a social justice movement. It took on the ravages of racism, militarism, empire, and injustice in the name of the gospel imperative to help the poor and afflicted and to break the chains of oppression.” (Page 21)
The celebration of the Dr. Martin Luther King holiday in 2021 gained even more significant meaning, after the Black Lives Matter movement grew into a national moment of reckoning. The continued killing of innocent Black men and women by police reached its breaking point after the May 25th, 2020 murder of George Floyd. Following that incident, bold calls for action, conversation, and dialogue were proposed at the thousands of Dr. King celebrations across the United States.
In my opinion, it is critical when weighing how to truly combat racial injustice that we hold close to our heart three of the core foundations of the Black Social Gospel.
First, that government action is absolutely necessary to change systemic racism in our country and society. Just this past legislative session, the Massachusetts General Court took bold action on public education funding, environmental justice, healthcare disparities, and police reform. It is critical that concerned residents, of all backgrounds, continue advocating and applying pressure on elected officials to create policies that will combat racial inequities.
Second, a recognition for people who are not Black, as Dorrien emphasizes above, that racial oppression impacts everything in the African American context and affects how all other problems are experienced in American society. When Black residents speak about their experiences and the impacts of daily racism, it is critical for the entire community to listen.
Finally, in appreciating that Dr. King’s approach to breaking the chains of racial oppression was inherently political, that lense of making society a subject of redemption means that people are able to change their beliefs. It is my strong belief that a commitment to anti-racism includes a recognition that not every person will be perfect in their path to embracing racial justice, but the goal of a society free of discrimination and prejudice is too important not to continue to the hard work.
