Welcome

Welcome to this blog that I have set up for this class, Soc. 305: The Sociological Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr. Given the low enrollment to date (9/5) in this class, it appears we will not have any group activities or exercises, which I normally use this blog for. Even individual exercises may be off the table. Nonetheless, there may be occasions in which I will use this blog. For example, I may use it to post an extra credit opportunity, or I may use it to post some commentary on the reading we will be doing if class time is not sufficient. I will keep you advised of how and when I will use this blog throughout the semester.

Papers

I forgot to mention yesterday that I am still working on your papers. I should have the longer papers you turned in last Tuesday finished today, and I will put them in an envelope on my office door (Main 121) by later this afternoon (Tuesday, 5/12). I will need a bit more time on writing assignment #4, which I should be able to put outside my door tomorrow afternoon (Wed. 5/13).

REMINDERS

First, be sure to check out the previous blog post which contains the family questions that will be on the final exam.

Second, remember that you have the option of taking the final exam either tomorrow (TUESDAY, 5/12, 2-5PM) when it was originally scheduled, or take it with my 8:00 TR Social Problems class, which is scheduled for THURSDAY, 5/14, 9-12, and is in MAIN 124. If you don't show up tomorrow, I will assume you will take it on Thursday with my other class. THESE ARE THE ONLY TWO OPTIONS.

Family Questions for the Final Exam

The following are the family final exam questions I accepted and will appear on the final exam.

GREEN FAMILY (Megan, Ben, Lewis, Jessica H.)

1. How did we connect Dr. King's call for us to be "maladjusted" to the status quo with Erich Fromm's "pathology of normalcy?" (2)

ANSWER: There are aspects of our society that are insane (such as racism), and we shouldn't adjust ourselves to such aspects just beacuse they are the norm or regarded as sane. The so-called norm may in fact be insane or pathological.

2. In the context of discussing the "sociological wisdom" of Dr. King at the very beginning of the course, How did I define wisdom in class? (2)

ANSWER: The highest level of knowledge; wholeness of one's vision and seeing things in their true light.

3. How did Martin Luther King's father feel about him leading the movement in Montgomery? (1)

ANSWER: He was apprehensive and begged him to come back to Atlanta and live a safer, more comfortable lifestyle.


BLUE FAMILY (Jessica O., Frank, Kristin) earn one bonus point.

1. Not long after Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech in Aug. '63, he began to see his dream turn into a nightmare because of what event? (1)

ANSWER: The bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, killing four girls.

2. In his "Letter From A Birmingham Jail," King compared nonviolent civil rights demonstrators to what insect that Socrates compared himself to? (1)

ANSWER: a gadfly

3. In a sermon from "The Strength to Love," King describes "softmindedness" as one of the basic causes of race prejudice. Name TWO characteristics of the softminded person described by King. (2)

ANSWER: Any two of the following: (1) unbelievably gullible, (2) superstitious, (3) fears change, (4) looks uncritically, dogmatically at religion.

4. What did King think of "token integration?" (2)

ANSWER: It was an inadequate, deceptive approach to real integration, or a "sophisticated form of delay."


RED FAMILY (Tomas, Jeremy, Tramaine)

1. According to the examples noted in class, and through King's writings, how did he tie Jesus and Gandhi together? (2)

ANSWER: Jesus provided the "love ethic" or moral groundwork, and Gandhi the tactic of nonviolent protest to achieve significant social change.

2. Briefly identify and describe the type of love Dr. King had in mind when he urged his followers to love their enemies. (2)

ANSWER: "Agape" love -- not sentimental or emotional, but entails understanding, good will, unconditional love such as God has for the human race.

3. In addition to government programs, what else did Dr. King see as crucial to addressing racial inequality? (1)

ANSWER: He saw a significant role for black self-help.

_________________________________

That's it. All participating members listed above will earn 15 activity points for this exercise and members of the BLUE FAMILY will earn a bonus point for their efforts.

Remember tomorrow, our last class, writing assignment #4 is due, and some of you still need to turn in the paper that was due yesterday.

Reminders & More Commentary

REMINDERS: Today (Monday, May 4th) is the deadline for the families to submit 5 short-answer questions. Please try to email them to me sometime today. I will be here until at least 4:30PM or so. Tomorrow (Tuesday, May 5th) your papers are due. Also, we have two final textual commentaries to hear from Ben and St. Claire. Along with my commentary below, I plan to wrap up my remarks about the last of the selections in A Testament of Hope tomorrow as well. On Thursday, May 7th, the 4th and final writing assignment is due and Kristin, Jessica H., Jessica O. & St. Claire are expected to talk about what you wrote for that assignment. You will need to do so in roughly 20-25 minutes or so altogether, because Dr. King's "Mountaintop Speech" runs around 50 minutes. That leaves little or no time for review for the final exam, so I'll give some thought to setting up a time on Friday, or perhaps Monday for a review session.


MORE COMMENTARY: last Thursday we got as far as selection #51, so let me pick up there.

#51 "Meet the Press" (TV interview, 21Aug.'66)

A. This excerpt was placed in The Congressional Record, an acknowledgment of how important the race issue was. In the headnote, notes how of the different leaders (from King, to Wilkins, to Carmichael), King adhered to the principle of unity and civility in public debate.

B. Note King's assesssment of the movement as of Aug. '66. "Well, I think at points it is growing worse. This does not mean that we have not made significant progress. But I think the real problem today is there is still a tragic gulf between promise and fulfillment, and that the rising expectations of freedom and equality, the rising expectations of improvement have met with little results, so the problem today is that we have laws on the books but they have not been thoroughly implemented and there are still pockets of resistance that are seeking to hold the civil rights movement back in our just and legal and moral aspirations for a democratic society, are still being met with these forces of resistance." (p. 381)

C. Later, King also puts his finger on the source of the intense hatred in Chicago -- based on fears and stereotypes of the black community. (p. 385)


#52 "Face to Face" (TV news interview, 28July'67)

Headnote: In addition to King, Ivan Allen (mayor of Atlanta), Dick Gregory, Roy Wilkins. Also placed in the Congressional Record.

A. President Johnson had just announced the formation of the Kerner Commission to study the riots. King comments on the misery of ghetto life. Ivan Allen stresses the need for law and order, but he does recognize "deep problems" that lie behind the riots.

B. Comic relief from Dick Gregory may be the most revealing, especially his follow-up regarding the rioting, seeing it as a type of spontaneous combustion. For example, shortly after he is introduced, he says, "I'm going to have to talk very fast because I have to fly out of here to Kansas City, Missouri, to help a friend of mine, a white cat that just moved into an all-colored neighborhood."
"And some colored bigot burned a watermelon on his front lawn." (p. 398)

And, a bit later: "If we treat this problem the way we treat a slum building that burns down -- when the fire commissioner shows up, the first thing he says, 'We're going to check into it and see what caused it.' If we check into these explosions and see what caused them instead of talking about looters and hoodlums, check and find out what caused it, because you're aware of a theory called spontaneous combustion. When you put dirty, oily, greasy rags in a closet, you close the door so that air cannot circulate, nature's going to take care of the rest. You can call these rags ignorant. You can call them nigger, you can call them fool. If you don't have enough wisdom to open up that door, it's spontaneous combustion. The black ghettos in America today are America's oily, dirty, greasy rags...." (p. 400)


#56 Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Headnote: this book was perhaps the toughest project for Dr. King given his demanding schedule. And at this time, it appeared that he and his organization were being by-passed in favor of more militant black power advocates. So, King tries to clarify "black power" and focus on what is positive about it. (I would add, it is also one of his most radical, far-reaching statements.)

Chapter 1 Where Are We?

A. In general, King does not paint a very rosy picture. Sees evidence of a white backlash in the South. He clearly disagrees with President Johnson's assessment. Voting Rights Act just the first phase. "With Selma and the Voting Rights Act one phase of development in the civil rights revolution came to an end. A new phase opened, but few observers recognized it or were prepared for its implications. For the vast majority of white Americans, the past decade -- the first phase -- had been a struggle to treat the Negro with a degree of decency, not of equality. White America was ready to demand that the Negro should be spared the lash of brutality and coarse degradation, but it had never been truly committed to helping him out of poverty, exploitation or all forms of discrimination." (p. 557)

1. Changes so far had been cheap.

B. He acknowledges the courage of many whites, but on the whole he feels they have not made a real effort to overcome their ignorance, perhaps out of a continued sense of superiority. (see top p. 561)

C. King sympathizes with whites who fear riots, but he makes clear that whites have a responsibility to understand and deal with the conditions that spark violence.


That brings us up to Chapter 2 Black Power, which, in my view, represents an incisive analysis of the concept of "power" itself, and the false notion that power is synonymous with the use of force, physical violence, or to parapharse Mao Tse Tung, what comes out of the barrell of a gun.
We'll pick up here tomorrow.

Reminder & More Commentary

First, since many were absent last Thursday, 4/23, let me remind everyone that you need to check out the previous blog post which describes our one-and-only family activity -- making up questions for the final exam. I will give the families some time on Tuesday and Thursday of this week to confer about this. Each family will then need to designate someone to submit your 5 short-answer final exam questions by next Monday, May 4th.

______________________________

More Commentary: I am still committed to saying something about all of the remaining selections in A Testament of Hope that I have asked you to read, so let me do some of that on this blog.

#46 "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

I started to comment on this last Thursday and did not finish. I did bring out King's references to Socrates in Plato's "Apology" and "Crito," which are quite appropriate, I argued.

D. King answers the charge of being an "extremist" -- actually, he felt he was a moderating force, moderating the real potential for blacks to become violent. (See last paragraph, p. 296 - 297)

E. Maybe America is in need of "creative extremists". (In this context, he acknowledges some courageous whites who stood with them.)

1. Church needs to lead, not just follow -- to be a THERMOSTAT, not just a THERMOMETER.

F. Finally, King takes these preachers to task for praising the police because they've kept "order." In this context he argues that the means must be as pure as the ends -- "Now we must recognize: it is wrong to use moral means to preserve immoral ends." (p. 301, bottom)


#49 Kenneth B. Clark Interview (1963, prior to March on Washington)

A. Clark, a prominent black psychologist, comments that he has not doubt that King's "love thy enemy" approach is genuine.

B. King does mention Erich Fromm's book, "The Art of Loving" -- how hate can be internally corrosive (bottom, p. 334), and love can be a force for personality integration.
(This suggests to me that King had probably read Fromm's "The Sane Society," and so he knew of Fromm's concept of the "pathology of normalcy," which has some connection to Dr. King's call to be "maladjusted.")

C. Clark asks King about Malcolm X's criticism of his "love thy enemy" approach -- doesn't it play into the hands of the oppressors -- to which King responds that Malcolm X did not understand the notion of AGAPE love.

D. Concludes on a hopeful note, but acknowledges there will be resistance and very real problems in the North related to employment and housing discrimination.


#23 "Behind the Selma March" (3 April 1965)

A. Headnote gives some good background. Notes some pressure from President Johnson and Hoover on King to "be more reasonable." Also comments on how the demonstrators were unmercifully beaten on the first attempted march (part of which was caught on camera).

B. King explains his actions during the second march when he decided to turn around. Says it would have been futile and led to violence if they tried to penetrate the "human wall" of law enforcement officers (which actually openned up at the last minute). But there clearly were other considerations (and I am not sure I buy King's explanation here).


#30 "Negroes Are Not Moving Too Fast" (7 November 1964)

A. Dr. King seems very cognizant of the potential for violence if there is little progress. Economic issues are highlighted.

B. King criticizes some thoughtless actions of other demonstrators, and then comments: "Action is not itself a virtue; its goals and its forms determine its values." (p. 179 top) (I agree wholeheartedly. When you act thoughtlessly, however justified, you may do your cause more harm than good.)

1. He understands also how many would interpret such acts, regardless of the justness of their cause.

C. King concludes with a nice response to what he perceives to be the message of Republican presidential candidate, Barry Goldwater. (See last paragraph, p. 180 and all of p. 181)


#31 "Civil Right No. 1: The Right to Vote" (March 14, 1965, appropriately in the midst of the Selma Campaign)

A. As one of our textual commentators brought out, King is optimistic about what voting might have accomplished or can accomplish -- he speculates that had blacks been able to vote in the South, they might have done something about the conditions which led many to migrate to the North. (See pp. 182-3)

That brings us up to selection #32, which is where I plan to pick up tomorrow. Remember, there will be no textual commentaries this week, and just the last two during the final week. Next Tuesday 5/5 your papers are due, and next Thursday 5/7, writing assignment #4 is due.

Family Activity: Making Up Questions for the Final Exam

Beginning in class tomorrow (Thursday, 4/23), I want each family start the process of developing questions for the final exam. Put yourselves in my shoes and consider what you believe is important to know about Dr. King, what you would ask if you were making up a final exam for this class. Specifically, I want each family to make up 5 SHORT-ANSWER questions on anything covered in the class. Use your class notes as a guide. By short-answer I mean direct questions that can be answered by a word or concept, a phrase or sentence, or, at most, a paragraph. NO true-false or mulitple-choice. Students who have had me before may serve as a guide for those who have not had me.
Once your family has come to some agreement on 5 questions, then designate a family member to submit your questions (and answers) to me in writing or via email NO LATER THAN MONDAY, MAY 4th. I will, then, consider them and try to accept at least 3 questions from each family. For each additional question I accept you will earn a bonus point, so you may earn up to 2 bonus points. This exercise is worth 15 points, and you must participate to earn those points.

The following are the families (slightly altered from when we chose them back in February):

RED FAMILY: Tramaine, Jeremy, Tomas, St. Claire

GREEN FAMILY: Ben, Lewis, Jessica H., Megan

BLUE FAMILY: Jessica O., Kristin, Frank

See you tomorrow, and don't forget to post your response to the video we saw last Thursday.