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Martin Luther King Jr. Special Edition
Jan. 13, 1999
Cl 9
The
Castle
O
f
Hatred
Waking The Hero Within
And Evil
B y C lyde W .F ord
thus freein g all o f h u m an ity cau g h t
W hen M artin L u th er K in g w ro te
ab o u t n o n v io len t so cial c h a n g e an d
the student lead ers o f th e b lack
freedom stru g g le in A m e ric a d u r­
ing the 1960’s, h e p ro u d ly n o ted
th e ro le o f p erso n al tra n sfo rm a ­
tion. “ T h ey to o k n o n v io len t re sis­
tan ce,” h e said , “ an d d e v e lo p e d
o rig in al form s o f a p p licatio n - sit-
ins, freed o m rides, an d w ad e-in s.
T o a c c o m p lis h th e se , th e y first
tran sfo rm ed th e m se lv e s.” B y this
K ing m ean t th at in th eir stru g g le
ag ain st racism , th ese y o u n g h e ­
roes had first a w ay o f tra n sfo rm ­
ing th eir v iew o f th e m se lv e s from
in the b elly o f the beast.
T he sy m b o lism o f this an cien t
A frican tale still sp eak s to m e in
this m o d e m day; n o t o n ly o f the
life o f a m o d e m d ay h ero lik e M ar­
tin L u th er K ing, b u t o f m y o w n life.
R eflectin g u p o n K in g ’s life, o r the
m y th o f L itu o lo n e, I c an ask o f
m yself: W h at is th e m o n ste r th at is
co n su m in g m y h u m an ity ? A n u n ac­
cep ta b le social illn ess like racism ,
v ictim izatio n to em p o w erm en t.
H ow d o in d iv id u als an d g ro u p s,
p a rtic u la rly A fric a n A m e ric a n s,
acco m p lish su ch a tran sfo rm atio n ?
A nd h o w m ig h t this h elp u s h eal
from the lo n g -stan d in g trau m a and
p a in o f racism ? A s a p sy c h o th e ra ­
p ist I k n o w that a tu rn in g p o in t in
th e in d iv id u al h ealin g p ro cess do es
co m e w h e n “p e rso n al sto rie s” o f
trau m a sh ift from litan ies o f v ic ­
tim izatio n to leg en d s o f e m p o w e r­
m en t, th o u g h it is h a rd e r to grasp
w hat sim ilar “ so cial sto rie s” m ig h t
h elp h eal racism .
W h en I lo o k at th e h is­
to r ic a l e x p e r i e n c e o f
A frican A m erican s, I see
a series o f ep iso d es, one
slo w ly d is s o lv in g in to
the next: “C a p tu re in A f­
C ly d e
IV.
F ord
ize th at th is series o f ep iso d es re ­
m in d s m e o f the ep ic jo u rn e y o f a
h e ro o r h ero in e, an d it is this notio n
o f A frican A m e ric a n s’ “h eroic jo u r­
n e y ” th at p o in ts to w ard a w ay o f
tran scen d in g v ictim izatio n an d d e ­
nial.
A cro ss tim e, a n d th ro u g h o u t the
w o rld , th e h ero strid es ou t o f m y th s
an d leg en d s as the o n e w h o has v en ­
tu red b ey o n d the k n o w n b o u n d aries
o f the d ay , m et an d d efeated sp ec­
ta c u la r forces, th en retu rn ed w ith
v io le n c e ,
p o v e rty ,
or
h o m e le s s n e s s ? T h e im p e rs o n a l
d em an d s o f an u n rew ard in g career?
T h e e m o t io n a l d r a i n o f a n
u n fu lfillin g relatio n sh ip ? T h e p sy ­
chic p ain o f an u n reso lv ed trau m a?
T h e e m p tin e ss o f an u n re a liz e d
dream ?
M o reo v er, 1 m ay p o n d er to w hat
h e ro -p art o f m y s e lf I m u s t give
b irth to m eet this m o n ster in b attle.
C o u ra g e ? F e a rle s s n e s s ? F a ith ?
H o p e? A n en d to d en ial? A b e lie f in
m y o w n w o rth in ess? A n d th en I
m ig h t questio n : A m I p rep ared to
en ter the b elly o f m y b east to w rest
w h atev er v icto ry is m in e? W h at
p arts o f m y s e lf am I w illin g to sac­
rifice in th is life-c h allen g in g e f­
fo rt? A n o u tm o d e d m a n n e r o f
th o u g h t? A b u rd en so m e
set o f b eliefs? A restric
tiv e v iew o f m y o w n p o ­
ten tial in life?
In th e s e e s s e n tia l
q u e s tio n s , o fte n w ith n o
re a d y a n s w e rs , lie th e
ro o ts o f p e r s o n a l tr a n s ­
f o r m a tio n . E v e n b e g in n in g to
p o n d e r th e m , a ls o b e g in s to fre e
us fro m th e sh a c k le s o f o u r p a s t,
w h e th e r p e rs o n a l o r s o c ia l, a n d
s e ts u s in th e d ir e c tio n o f a n
a u th e n tic life liv e d a c c o rd in g to
th e d ic t a te s o f o u r o w n c o n
s c ie n c e . F o r e ffe c tiv e so c ia l
“ He can follow in the footsteps o f all
the heroes who have gone before us;
their journey can become a meditation
in our own life ”
rica,” “ M o n stro u s T ra n s­
p o rt T h ro u g h th e M id d le
P a ss a g e ,” “ T h e H o rro rs o f S la ­
v ery ,” “ W h isp ers o f R e b ellio n an d
R e v o lt,” “ P ro m ise s o f F re e d o m
B ro k en ,” “ T h e E n tre n c h m e n t o f
R a c i s m ,” a n d “ T h e O n g o in g
S tru g g le fo r F reed o m an d Ju s tic e .”
It w o u ld be easy to fit th ese e p i­
sodes into an acco u n t o f v ic tim iz a ­
tio n focusing o n the a tro cities o f
racism an d o p p ressio n , an d ju s t as
ea sy to fit th e m in to a n arrativ e o f
d en ial cla im in g that th ese ev en ts
h ap p en ed a long tim e ag o an d so
sh o u ld n o t a ffect u s now .
Y et, w h en I ask m y se lf, “ I f a
sin g le p e rs o n liv e d th ro u g h all
th ese e x p erien ces, h o w w o u ld I
d escrib e th at p e rs o n ’s life?” I real
so m e h ard -w o n , p recio u s gift. M ar­
tin L u th er K in g , fo r ex am p le, is su ch
a h ero , b u t th en so to o are th e c o u n t­
less h ero es w ith A frican faces w h o se
n a m e s w e w ill n e v e r k n o w ; m en an d
w o m en w h o su rv iv ed cap tu re in A f­
rica, the h o rrc rs o f slav ery , an d the
stru g g le for freed o m an d ju s tic e in
d ev o u re d all o f h u m an k in d . It w as an
u n ev en co n test, an d th e m o n ster u l­
tim ately sw allo w ed th e hero. B ut
L itu o lo n e w as a lion o f a m an and
tr a n s fo r m a tio n , d e m a n d s m e a n ­
in g f u l p e rs o n a l tr a n s f o r m a tio n
as K in g n o te d . W e c a n fo llo w in
th e fo o ts te p s o f a ll th e h e ro e s
w h o h a v e g o n e b e fo r e u s ; th e ir
jo u r n e y c a n b e c o m e a m e d ita ­
tio n in o u r o w n life . A n d , n o
lo n g e r a v ic tim o f th e p a s t o r th e
p re s e n t, w e. c a n w a k e th a t h e ro
so o n m an ag e d to c u t his w ay out,
w ith in u s a ll
A m erica.
T h e re ’s a w o n d e rfu l tale from
so u th ern A frica a b o u t a m y th ic hero
n a m e d L itu o lo n e , a n d h is b a ttle
ag ain st a fo rm less m o n ster, w h o had
B y D r . D ominiqle M arglerite
W hen w e hum ans are physically or
psychologically threatened or injured
in som e way, we often becom e angry.
This form o f mental excitation is in­
stinctive and healthy, but it som etim es
turns into destructive action and vio­
lence. Alternatively, anger can be re­
pressed, but m ay then build up and
eventually burst forth as rage. W hat to
do? Carl G. Jung, the Sw iss psychia­
trist, suggests w e begin by cultivating
self-knowledge. He w ould have us be­
com e aw are o f and learn to handle both
the sunny and dark sides o f our natures.
The self-aw are individual will recog­
nize both “how m uch good he can do,
and w hat crim es he is capable o f ...”
D ream s and fairy tales are the prod­
ucts o f our creative unconscious and
reveal basic patterns o f our psycho­
logical dynam ics. T he fam ous G erm an
collectors o f folk and fairy tales, the
Brothers G rim m , tell the story o f the
Tw o Travelers. It illustrates, albeit not
explicitly, the opposing forces o f good
and evil in the hum an psyche. The trav­
elers are a good-spirited tailor and a
sour-tem pered shoem aker. T he shoe­
m aker succum bs to his dark nature and
perpetrates all sorts o f violence on the
tailor, w ithholding food, blinding, aban­
d onm ent in the forest, a typically
graphic set o f G rim m horrors. The
tailor struggles on, blind and alone,
neither helped by, nor doing harm to, a
host o f anim als (and potential m eals)
that fall w ithin his grasp. A t last he
m akes it to a city, only to find that his
old travel com panion is now shoe­
m aker to the king. Fearing revenge the
shoem aker convinces the king to give
the tailor an im possible task, to find the
king’s lost crown. T he tailor succeeds
w ith the help o f a duck w hose neck he
earlier had not wrung. M ore trials fol­
low, and in each the tailor is helped by
a forest creature w hom he had spared
while he had suffered, lost in w ilder­
ness. His eventual trium ph com es with
delivering a son and heir to the king
w ith the help o f a storic
In our daily confrontations w ith an­
ger, w e m ay expect such help from
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B irm in g h a m , M a y 1 9 6 3
w ithin if w e follow Jung’s advice to
understand the dual nature o f the forces
w ithin ourselves. Jung says the “it is
often tragic to see how blatantly a man
bungles his ow n life and the lives o f
others yet rem ains totally incapable o f
seeing how m uch the w hole tragedy
originates in himself, and how he con­
tinually feeds it and keeps it going. N ot
consciously, o f course, for consciously
he is engaged in bewailing and cursing
a faithless w orld that recedes farther
and further into the distance.” Jung
further adm onished us not to succum b
to either the good or evil o f our psy­
c h o lo g ic a l m akeup. T h ro u g h se lf
know ledge, w e can find strength to
help us suffer through hard times, with
a balanced psyche intact, to arrive on
is acts o f violence, cruelty, torture.
These parts o f ourselves, despised and
rejected, are relegated to the uncon­
scious, ideally at an early age. A s chil­
better times w ith joy.
The inhum anity o f the shoem aker is
possible for each o f us. The potential
for evil lies in our unconscious: greed,
love o f pow er, murderous thoughts, or
the ability to act unethically. In the
depth o f the psyche ofhum ankind lurks
absolute evil, the expression o f which
m odem life, w e also choose scape­
goats to purge ourselves o f anger.
T hey m ay be individuals, places, cir­
cum stances, even entire races. R ollo
M ay, hum anist psychologist, perhaps
said it best: “L ife consists o f achiev­
ing good not apart from evil but in
dren, w e quickly adjust to our environ­
m ent, to particular form s o f family and
culture. It is a necessary aspect o f b e­
com ing a socialized individual.
B ut the potential for evil does not
go away. M ore im portantly, negative
aspects o f the psyche can take on a life
o f their ow n if w e do not confront and
deal w ith them. Som etim es, w hat w e
cannot adm it in ourselves, w e see in
others. In ancient H ebrew society, the
people sacrificed o r sent out into the
w ilderness tw o specially chosen goats,
that they m ight sym bolically bear aw ay
the sins and faults o f hum ankind. In
spite o f it.”
"We are prone to judge
success by the index of
our salaries or the size
of our automobiles,
rather than by the
quality of our service
and relationship
I
to humanity”.
-M a rtin Luther King Jr.
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