6. King Held Socialist Political Views
King may have been the son of a prominent Atlanta family, but many of his views were shaped in the summers of his youth, spent picking tobacco on a farm in Connecticut. During those summers, the young King not only saw civil relations between whites and blacks, but he was also exposed to the plight of the poor. And capitalism simply didn’t fit into his dream of equality for all.
“One day we must ask the question, ‘Why are there forty million poor people in America?’” King proclaimed in a 1967 speech before the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. “When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy.”
But King didn’t simply denounce capitalism, he also accepted socialism − his biographer David J. Garrow even claimed King self-described as Marxist. King explained his point of view in a 1966 speech to his staff:
“We are saying that something is wrong… with capitalism…. There must be better distribution of wealth and maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism,” King said. “Call it what you may, call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all of God’s children.”
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