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January 15, 1966, Portland Observer, Page 7
Today's Black leaders demonstrate King's philosophy
AdsAorfa. will be published in the fall It is based on extensive research into
previously unused sources in France, Ethiopia and the Sudan.
In addition to King: .4 Biography (1970). I ewis is well known for M hen
Harlem H us in I'ogue. a highly readable account of the Harlem Renaissance ol
the 1920s. Now in the research stage is his biography ol W I B . DuBois.
Future biographers of Martin 1 uther King, Jr will continue to treat him
favorably, I ewis predicts. "The more carefully King is scrutinized, the better
he looks. Even those things that allowed the FBI a season of delectation and
voyeurism do not diminish the man's character."
Black leaders today are demonstrating one ol Martin I uther King. Jr "s
lesser known legacies by speaking out on U.S. foreign policy issues, says
Rutgers University authority on Afro-American history.
Dr Das id l evering I ewis, one of the foremost biographers of the slain
civil rights leader, says that King's willingness to stale his views on foreign
policy “ modeled a stand that is being revived today as leading Blacks go on
record against the Reagan adm inistation's position on South Africa and its
handling of crises in the Middle East.”
King saw the clear connections between global problems and national
issues, the Rutgers historian notes. "H e was among the first to oppose the
Vietnam War, and he paid a vers high price tor that departure Although he
won the Nobel Peace Prize, he was persecuted for the rest of his life by the
justice department under President 1 yndon Johnson."
; .
“The more carefully
King is scrutinized,
the better he looks. ”
As America prepares to celebrate the first national holiday in honor of
King, Lewis points out that although disturbing conditions still exist for Afro-
Americans. King solidly succeeded in his forem ost goal of overcoming
segregation in this country.
Problems today are quite different from those that existed w hen the
Southern Baptist minister led the march on Selma and preached his dream of
an integrated America, noted 1 ewis, a scholar of international distinction who
is Rutgers University's Martin I uther King, Jr. Professor of History.
"Segregation was outlawed in the South,” he states. "Afro-Americans
gained voting rights. Affirmative action programs have shown surprising
resilience at the state and local levels, despite the so-called ‘color blind’ policies
of the national administration. Our basic civil rights gains are probably irrever
sible."
Bui, I ewis maintains, if King were alive today he might seem out of touch
with the times. “ He would probably risk appearing irrelevant by remaining
; -faithful to his large vision of a transformed society."
Some ol King's heirs in the civil rights establishment, the old guard leader
ship of the NAACP and Urban I cague, are "hopelessly shortsighted and mat
! tentivc to the new shape of problems," l ewis contends. “ They have disserved
us all, particularly Black Americans, by continuing to focus solely on white
racism."
Lewis agrees with those Afro-American scholars who maintain that in
spite of historical oppression, the crime, violence, illegitimacy and school
; dropout rate within Black underclass communities are determined more by
social class und family instability than racial discrimination And. this group of
scholars contends, government handouts, alone, cannot solve the crisis.
1 ewis, however, notes that while the government programs of the 'NX and
<-'7(X may have overreached themselves and were marked by abuses, they did
; -.work. "Head Start and the Job Corps did help equip people for schooling and
S helter jobs," he declares.
* *
Economics and class increasingly divide Black Americans, I ewis says, and
pose particularly severe problems for young Blacks.
Special ( )bsen ance
of
Rutgers University historian David Levering Lewis, a foremost bmlgrapher of
the late Martin Luther King, Jr., says that Black leaders today are reviving a
lesser known legacy of the stain civil rights leader w h e n they speak out on U.S
foreign policy issues Lewis, an internationally known expert on Afro American
history, is the State University’s Martin Luther King. Jr. Professor of History
and is a resident of Jersey City. NJ
" I he national pattern of declining minority enrollment in U.S. colleges
and universities seems to come from a social psychology at work," he explains
"D isenchanted? I hat’s a euphemism for the attitude among minority
young people today With R) percent unemployment among Black youths and
with even very bright youngsters unable to get jobs, many teel that there is no
use going tocollege Il's a grinding situation."
Characterized as "one of the most talented, productive and wide-ranging
scholars ol Ins generation," I ewis joined the faculty of New Jersey's State
University in September I his semester he will teach a course on the impact of
European im perialism in A frica His book on that topic, titled Race to
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Birthday
Black History Month
The Afm-American Heritage
liiceatennial Com m em orative (Juilt
w ill l x on d isp la y at the
ORIX,ON HISTORICAL CENTER
I 2 AD SAX Park Ave , Portland, OR V 2 D S
ID .t nt to t »5 p in . Monday through Saturday
ADMISSION I R I I
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