Becoming King Read online

  Despite Nixon’s activism, most African American men avoided overt challenges to Montgomery’s racist laws and mores. As a member of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters whose job was not tied to the local community, Nixon was less vulnerable to economic retribution by local whites. Those whose service jobs depended on the goodwill of local white businessmen could not afford to share Nixon’s boldness. According to Jo Ann Robinson, many black men stopped riding the city buses during this period, fearing the abuse and humiliation they so often received from bus drivers. They also were tired of feeling powerless while drivers disrespected and mistreated African American women. According to Robinson, “at no time did a single man ever stand up in defense of the women.” Men were more vulnerable to economic and physical reprisals if they stepped out of their place, as often families depended on income from their jobs to make ends meet. Any overt protest, if discovered, could easily lead to the loss of a job, a price that was simply too high for most to pay. So, “if they were on the bus when trouble started, they merely got up and got off.” Confronted with perpetual repression, many working-class black males chose to avoid confrontations altogether.19

  King never had to ride the buses in Montgomery. Although he undoubtedly heard about the community’s concerns over the bus situation, his earliest impressions of the city were from a broader perspective. He noticed the heavy influence of the Maxwell and Gunter Air Force bases, which employed roughly 7 percent of the city’s workforce and, according to chamber of commerce reports, pumped over $50 million into the city’s economy each year. King could not help but notice that while these bases had such a significant economic impact on the region, they operated under different social rules than the city did: “the bases, which contributed so much to the economic life of the community, were fully integrated,” but “the city around them adhered to a rigorous pattern of racial segregation.” King also encountered a divided black community, particularly among the leadership. He became aware of the many subgroups, programs, organizations, and competing personalities that stifled any significant efforts to bring about change. King admired the individual leaders but surmised, “While the heads of each of these organizations were able and dedicated leaders with common aims, their separate allegiances made it difficult for them to come together on the basis of a higher unity.”20

  Although King did not have an answer to the divisions that beset Montgomery’s black community, he was determined that both he and his congregants would make a contribution to the local struggle. King’s series of recommendations for Dexter, written during his first week as a resident of Montgomery, emphasized the central role of the pastor in church polity. Claiming that a pastor’s authority flows both from God and from the people, he asserted that a call to serve as pastor affirms “the unconditional willingness of the people to accept the pastor’s leadership,” which means “leadership never ascends from the pew to the pulpit, but it invariably descends from the pulpit to the pew.” In King’s view, a pastor should “never be considered a mere puppet for the whimsical and capricious mistreatment of those who wish to show their independence, and ‘use their liberty for a cloak of maliciousness.’”21

  These early statements by King have been cited by some to argue that King was not interested in the voices of the average people, but instead operated from a “top-down” understanding of leadership. Many of these assessments of King’s leadership drawn from this particular speech fail to account for the larger context that King was entering. In general, new ministers often find themselves in precarious positions. Church boards are filled with volunteers who are not easily replaced. Particularly in the Baptist church polity, deacon boards held a tremendous amount of sway, especially during the first few years of a pastor’s tenure, before the minister could develop loyalty and strong relationships with the people. In this speech, King was attempting to emphasize the trust they placed in him by voting him in as pastor, and to underscore his authority through an appeal to a divine sanction of his position.22

  King also believed his bold statements regarding his authority were warranted given the reputation Dexter had earned over the years. Known as a “deacons’ church,” many ministers in the National Baptist Convention believed Dexter’s board was heavy-handed when dealing with their pastors. When one of Daddy King’s friends found out that King Jr. was considering assuming the pastorate at Dexter, the friend said: “Mike, there’s one man on the board at Dexter to watch out for. He may be dead by now, but if he is still alive, don’t you go there, because he’ll give you hell.” When King learned that Deacon Thomas H. Randall was not only very much alive, but served as chair of the deacons, he came to the church expecting difficulties. The level of trust was so low between pastors and deacons at Dexter that, during King’s first year, Deacon Randall is said to have kept a notebook on King in which he recorded any misdeeds, shortcomings, and complaints from the people. King’s proposals represented a strategic attempt to wrest some control of the congregation from the deacon board.23

  King made thirty-four recommendations to his new congregation, among which was the creation of a social and political action committee. Arguing that “the gospel of Jesus is a social gospel as well as a personal gospel seeking to save the whole man,” King developed this new group to keep “the congregation intelligently informed concerning the social, political and economic situation.” King gave the new committee the responsibility of highlighting the work of the local NAACP and helping make sure that “every member of Dexter” would become “a registered voter.” The roster of those appointed to serve the congregation through this new vessel included Mary Fair Burks as chair, Jo Ann Robinson as co-chair, and Rufus Lewis as a committee member. Rather than inspire new social activism in the lives of committee members, this new group provided a platform in the church to trumpet the causes about which committee members were already passionate. In later reflections regarding the formation of the Social and Political Action Committee, King admitted: “I sought members for this committee who had already evinced an interest in social problems, and who had some prior experience in this area. Fortunately this was not a difficult task, for Dexter had several members who were deeply concerned about community problems, and who accepted with alacrity.”24

  King’s decision to launch a social and political action committee demonstrates his desire to move beyond rhetoric to launch specific actions in the struggle for civil rights. King also knew he had ready allies in those who would serve on this nascent committee. He provided space and a platform within Dexter for those who were already very much involved in the struggle in the broader community. He would also learn from the boldness of his parishioners, who were already outspoken leaders. Inspired by their courage, he hoped others at Dexter would share in his admiration of Lewis, Robinson, and Burks by getting more involved in the freedom struggle.

  From all indications, the Social and Political Action Committee went to work immediately. Their second report consisted of a voting survey issued to the congregation. Coretta Scott King filled out one of the forms, indicating that she was not a registered voter because she had “not been living in the state for the last nine years.” She did express a desire to become a registered voter, and when asked how the committee could help her in this process, she wrote: “Would like to know when I can register. Also I would like a copy of State laws.” A few weeks later, the committee produced a third report for the church in an attempt to update the congregation on voting issues on the eve of the November gubernatorial elections. The document emphasized the importance of paying one’s poll tax and also warned those who registered before 1950 that they needed to fill out a reidentification form. Intended to help inform voters on key issues on the ballot, the committee urged “every qualified voter to go to the polls on election day, no matter how seemingly insignificant the election may be. Your vote may mean the difference between the defeat or victory of some issue that might vitally affect your welfare. GO TO THE POLLS NOVEMBER 2, TAKE A NEIGHBOR AL
ONG WITH YOU, AND FRIENDS AS WELL!”25

  King knew one of the best ways to inspire his congregation to get involved in the community was through his sermons. After his move from Boston, King finally had the opportunity to get comfortable with preaching weekly. He took the task seriously, often spending well over fifteen hours a week in preparation. He described his routine as follows: “I usually began an outline on Tuesday. On Wednesday I did the necessary research and thought of illustrative material and life situations that would give the sermon practical content. On Friday I began writing and usually finished the writing on Saturday night.” King’s first year and a half at Dexter marked the only time in his pastoral career that his schedule allowed him to focus significant attention to the development and delivery of his weekly sermons.26

  Many Dexter members had vivid memories of King’s preaching. Thelma Rice recognized the high quality of both the content and presentation of his sermons: “I was impressed with the command that he had over what he wanted to say and the way he said it, with conviction.” Another parishioner, Mrs. O. B. Underwood, called young King “an outstanding preacher.” She remembered resistance to his messages as well, however: “Many people didn’t like his way of delivering Sunday morning messages. But most of the younger people and certainly most of his friends were very much in accord with his thoughts.” She admired his directness: “the way he was able to deliver a message, it always hit, and it probably hit too hard. We used to laugh about many of the messages because you could sit in the back of the church and point out certain people that you knew said, ‘looks like this message was aimed at that particular person.’” Underwood summarized King’s early sermons as having strong religious and social content, while also being “easily understood by all.” She was also impressed with King’s delivery: “His voice was soothing; he could gain your attention almost immediately; you didn’t wander when he was speaking; you listened when he was speaking, whether it was a mass meeting or a church service or a social gathering, feeling extremely elated.” Dexter member Alfreida Dean Thomas concurred, noting: “I was closest to him, I would say, if you were speaking in a spiritual sense, during the sermons in church. I just always felt that everything that he said was directly related to me, as well as the other people, but very, very directly related to me and very much an influence on my life.”27

  During the fall of 1954, King’s sermons continued to touch on social and political topics. As a new pastor, he also had an ambitious agenda for church growth. One of his conditions for accepting the position was that his compensation would increase as the church grew, and increased numbers would certainly bolster his worth in the eyes of his new congregation. In one early sermon, King challenged his listeners to actively proselytize others in the community if they truly believed “Christianity has the power to give new meaning to life.” As they shared Jesus’ good news, King encouraged them to be prepared to “defend the Church where necessary.” His recommendations to the church included programs that would attract a larger membership, and he intentionally espoused greater evangelistic fervor from the pulpit.28

  King also pushed his congregation to engage their community in new and daring ways. Believing the timeliness of movements was a critical element in their success, King lamented those who had struggled and come up short in the past, citing the “vision of racial equality” of the former vice president and 1948 presidential candidate Henry Wallace as an example of a movement that was ahead of its time. “On the other hand,” King noted, “there are times when history is ready to accept a new event.” In King’s view, the people of Montgomery were living in such a time. The question for the congregation and its new pastor was whether they would passionately commit themselves to the task at hand.29

  As King began to settle into his role as Dexter’s pastor, he was making a favorable impression on the broader African American community in Montgomery. Early in 1955, the local NAACP met at the Metropolitan Methodist Episcopal Church in Montgomery. In opening comments, W. C. Patton, the state conference president, updated the members on the status of the Jeremiah Reeves case, including a proposal for the Montgomery branch to pay attorney fees for the death-row inmate. The group also voted to vigorously oppose a segregated inaugural ball for Governorelect Folsom to be held at Alabama State College. King delivered the address for the event, in which he encouraged newly installed officers to recognize that, “while we have come a long way,” there is still “a long way to go.” He also applauded the chapter’s condemnation of the segregated inaugural ball. Years later, E. D. Nixon recalled hearing King speak for the first time: “King spoke to the NAACP in the Metropolitan Church. Me and [Alabama State University professor J. E.] Pierce was sitting back in the back of the church, and when King got through talking I said to Pierce, I said, ‘Pierce, that guy makes a heck of a good speech.’ He said, ‘He sure did.’ I said, ‘Pierce, I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but some day I’m going to hang him to the stars.’” King also impressed future Montgomery Improvement Association leader Johnnie Carr: “He just got up and made a few remarks after he had been introduced by Mr. Robert Nesbitt. Rosa [Parks] and I were there and I just turned around and said, ‘Listen to that. He’s something, isn’t he?’ The flow of his words and the way that he expressed them while talking about ordinary things. We discovered something in him that just made him seem a little bit different from others.”30

  The decision to have segregated balls to celebrate Governor-elect Folsom’s inauguration prompted Uriah J. Fields to write a letter to the editor in which he called such segregation “undemocratic and unjustified.” Fields noted that “many Negroes cast their votes for him, standing in the same lines with their white friends and using the same voting machines.” A delegate to the 1952 Republican Convention in Chicago, he appealed to his experiences there as a model for Alabama: “I had the privilege of attending that ball along with other American citizens. Why can’t I and other Negroes do the same for our incoming governor in this great state of Alabama?” Although Fields’s attempt to persuade white southern Democrats by appealing to the practices of the Republican Party was ill-conceived at best, his letter does demonstrate a growing willingness by many African Americans to let whites know how they felt about racial discrimination.31

  At Dexter, the Social and Political Action Committee continued to educate the congregation regarding voting requirements, regulations, and important dates. Sixteen church members attended registration clinics sponsored by the committee, and through a newsletter they highlighted the upcoming city commission election. An editorial in the newsletter championed the cause of a newly formed African American organization in the city, the Citizens Coordinating Committee. The article celebrated the new organization, noting that it was “composed of all the organizations of the city of Montgomery, whether civic, political, cultural, social or religious,” and that the group formed “to provide a medium for cooperative efforts among all groups” with specific attention “placed on economic cooperation.” King, who believed African Americans in Montgomery were too divided, later reflected on the promise of this new venture: “I can remember the anticipation with which I attended the first meeting of this group, feeling here the Negro community had an answer to a problem that had stood too long as a stumbling block to social progress.” The organization did not last long, however, as personality conflicts and turf wars prevented any substantive coordination. King remembered: “Due to a lack of tenacity on the part of the leaders and of active interest on the part of the citizens in general, the Citizens Coordinating Committee finally dissolved. With the breakdown of this promising undertaking, it appeared that the tragic division in the Negro community could be cured only by some divine miracle.” Even as the battle lines were forming in Montgomery, the African American community was unable to join together to speak and act with one voice in order to achieve social change.32

  A lack of cohesiveness did not slow down the leaders of the Women’s Political Council. During Januar
y 1955, they met with the city commissioners, seeking to broker additional gains following the hiring of black police officers the previous year. The group requested spots on the city’s Parks and Recreation Board, as they hoped to eventually integrate the city’s park system. While the commissioners did not provide the desired response to their demands, Mayor Gayle did take this opportunity to praise the work of the city’s African American police officers. If they could not secure action from current elected officials, many blacks in Montgomery were ready to invest significant energy into electing the next city commissioners at the polls in March.33

  Nixon, who had run for public office the previous year, helped lead the charge for a more politically engaged African American populace. In a letter penned in early February, Virginia Durr took note of Nixon’s bold leadership, calling him “the most effective and bravest fighter for equal rights” in the city. She emphasized the external support he received from his union (the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters) and the NAACP that allowed him to persevere despite perpetual resistance by those in power. Durr concluded that Nixon had “more support on a national basis than any man in Montgomery, and is more effective politically than any other Negro here.” Nixon joined forces with the WPC in an attempt to further engage the broader African American community in the upcoming local elections. They also hoped prospective office holders would hear and respond to the concerns of Montgomery’s black population.34

  On February 23, some of the city’s African American leaders invited the city commission candidates to a forum hosted at the Ben Moore Hotel. When the candidates arrived, forum organizers presented them with a list of eight “urgent needs” that demanded “immediate attention.” The black community asked the politicians to offer a response to each issue, beginning with “the present bus situation.” Other concerns included a request for black representation on the Parks and Recreation Board, the need for a new subdivision for African American housing, jobs for qualified blacks in the community (concerning which they noted “everybody can not teach”), black representation on all boards affecting black citizens, a need for fire hydrants in congested areas, a dearth of sewage disposals in black neighborhoods, and the prevalence of narrow streets without curbing or pavement in many African American sections of Montgomery. The sheet concluded: “What will you do to improve these undemocratic practices? Your stand on these issues will enable us to better decide on whom we shall cast our ballot in the March election. Very truly yours, Montgomery Negroes.”35