Against Us, but for Us: Martin Luther King, Jr. and the State

by Long, Michael G.

• ISBN13: 9780865547681
• ISBN10: 0865547688
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-01-01
• Publisher: Mercer Univ Pr

Summary

What was Martin Luther King, Jr.'s understanding of the State? In this provocative and challenging work, Michael G. Long addresses this very basic but overlooked aspect of King's thought. In King's vision there are three important elements of his view of the State.

First, King understood the State to be reflective of and involved in the creating, preserving, and reconciling work of God. Long contends, the foundation of this view is King's christologically grounded vision of the beloved community. While King understood the State to be deeply sinful, he affirmed the role of the State in creating, preserving, and reconciling work of God. Like the individuals that make up the State, the State is not only a force of good, but also of evil.

Second, King's theological understanding of the State remained relatively constant in most of its fundamental elements but developed in substantive content and expression throughout his life. With this argument, Long counters King scholarship that posits a radical transformation between the first decade and the last three year

Table of Contents

Abbreviations	vii
Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	xi
Black Church, White State (1929--1944)	1	(21)
Morehouse and More Democracy (1944--1948)	22	(17)
An Emerging Theology of the State (1948--1951)	39	(24)
Encountering Realism, Countering Realism (1951--1955)	63	(25)
Against Us, But for Us (1954--1963)	88	(43)
Against a Minimalist State, But for a Social-Democratic State (1964--1965)	131	(39)
Against a Separate Black State, But for a Revolutionized State (1966--1968)	170	(41)
Conclusion: Summary Statements and Response	211	(20)
Bibliography	231	(12)
Index	243