-By Don Boys, Ph.D.
After assuming the leadership of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1954, Martin Luther King shot to fame because of a local incident involving the local bus system. Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, refused to surrender her seat to a white person and was arrested on December 1, 1955. No one knows what motivated Rosa to refuse to surrender her seat, and she said that she had “no plot or plan.” Who knows? However, we do know that she was an officer in the local chapter of the NAACP and was trained at the Communist Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, and is in the famous photo along with King. Furthermore, we know that she and King corresponded four months before the boycott. Sounds like collusion to me. How about conspiracy? Or maybe she was simply tired.
King came to Rosa Parks’ support and on December 5, he was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association. King was now the official spokesman for a civil rights organization. Preaching would henceforth be relegated to the background. Of course, he always intended it to be. Social action was his game from the beginning. Moreover, King never challenged anyone to repent of sin and place personal faith in Christ! King used the church, the Bible, and the gullibility of Blacks to climb to power.
In the South in those days, a Black had to give up his or her seat to any white person whatever the ages involved. In many southern cities, Blacks had to sit in the rear of the bus reserving the front for Whites. Of course, that was indefensible and many white Christians of that era must accept some of the blame for permitting that to continue without protest. As a white person, I don’t accept any guilt but I am embarrassed that white Christians did not come to the defense of mistreated Blacks.
The bus-seating issue turned into a bus boycott that lasted 382 days, and during those days, King was arrested, threatened, and his home was bombed, and out of it all King emerged as the foremost black leader. Of course, no sane person will try to justify the bombing of his home.
In November of 1956, the U.S. Supreme ruled that bus segregation was illegal and the young black pastor from Montgomery was a national hero. King discovered that there were more advantageous in the civil rights movement than in pastoring a small church in Alabama. Being a civil rights leader meant more glory, gold, and gals—many gals.
In 1957 King formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to fight segregation and achieve civil rights for Blacks, and on May 17, Dr. King spoke to a crowd of 15,000 in Washington, D.C. This young Black was on the move. He found that the pay was better, the perks were greater and the prestige was incredible. The following year he even met with President Eisenhower, and Congress passed the first civil rights bill since Reconstruction!
Because of King and other black agitators, the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed whereby private businessmen were forbidden by Federal law to make personal choices. While it was good that Blacks (and others) would no longer be discriminated against, it was and is tragic that Congress did not have the intelligence or moral courage to delineate between the good and bad parts of the law. An American businessman (white or black) should have the right to make stupid, financially unwise decisions if he wants because as an American he has a right to fail as well as be stupid. There should be no bailouts at any level for anyone.
At the same time, train and bus stations and other public buildings had separate rest rooms for “Whites” and “Colored.” Again, that is indefensible. There should have been no separate facilities for Whites and Blacks in any publicly owned building because Black taxes built and supported those buildings. However wrong that was, it is also indefensible for government to tell a private businessman he had to serve Blacks (or Whites). That is government taking authority it does not have. Government has the power but not the authority to do so. In other words, an American (of any race) has a right not to like people of other races. In fact, he has a legal right to hate as long as he does not harm another person. Of course, no Christian has that right since he is to be governed by Biblical standards. I am saying that property rights are more important than a person’s right to get a hair cut or purchase a ham sandwich.
Vice President Hubert Humphrey promised us that the Civil Rights Act would not result in quotas–affirmative action. If so, he promised to eat the 800 pages of the Act. Too bad, he is not alive today to carry out his promise!
Therefore, I will shock many Conservatives and say that Rosa Parks was right when she refused to give up her seat to a white person! When she was arrested, King came to her defense, and I applaud him and her (although I believe he “used” her). In May of 1956, the buses of Montgomery were integrated. No longer would a Black be forced to surrender his seat to a White. But the young pastor was not satisfied with his (their) victory. He demanded “employment of Negro bus drivers for predominantly Negro routes.” That meant white drivers in black areas would be replaced by Blacks. King had tasted success and liked it. It didn’t matter about white drivers’ contracts, seniority, their ability, their families, etc. Replace them with Blacks or else!
The chickens had come home to roost. Many white officials (and others) had mistreated so many Blacks for so many years, but that had come to an end. Now, white citizens would have to pay for the many years of mistreatment of Blacks. Many Blacks and Whites think that is a noble concept. I don’t.
Where it is possible to prove that a Black has been treated unfairly by any government entity, i.e., city, county, or federal then that Black should be compensated. If a man was refused promotion in the military because he was black, then he deserves to be compensated for the unfair treatment. However, for many reasons I do not believe in a general compensation plan or reparations. It is a ploy used by people without character who are looking for something for nothing.
(1st of 8 columns to be released every other day.)
MLK Jr.: Civil Rights Provided More Pay, Perks, and Prestige than Pastoring!
Don Boys, Ph.D.
After assuming the leadership of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1954, Martin Luther King shot to fame because of a local incident involving the local bus system. Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, refused to surrender her seat to a white person and was arrested on December 1, 1955. No one knows what motivated Rosa to refuse to surrender her seat, and she said that she had “no plot or plan.” Who knows? However, we do know that she was an officer in the local chapter of the NAACP and was trained at the Communist Highlander Folk School in Tennessee, and is in the famous photo along with King. Furthermore, we know that she and King corresponded four months before the boycott. Sounds like collusion to me. How about conspiracy? Or maybe she was simply tired.
King came to Rosa Parks’ support and on December 5, he was elected president of the Montgomery Improvement Association. King was now the official spokesman for a civil rights organization. Preaching would henceforth be relegated to the background. Of course, he always intended it to be. Social action was his game from the beginning. Moreover, King never challenged anyone to repent of sin and place personal faith in Christ! King used the church, the Bible, and the gullibility of Blacks to climb to power.
In the South in those days, a Black had to give up his or her seat to any white person whatever the ages involved. In many southern cities, Blacks had to sit in the rear of the bus reserving the front for Whites. Of course, that was indefensible and many white Christians of that era must accept some of the blame for permitting that to continue without protest. As a white person, I don’t accept any guilt but I am embarrassed that white Christians did not come to the defense of mistreated Blacks.
The bus-seating issue turned into a bus boycott that lasted 382 days, and during those days, King was arrested, threatened, and his home was bombed, and out of it all King emerged as the foremost black leader. Of course, no sane person will try to justify the bombing of his home.
In November of 1956, the U.S. Supreme ruled that bus segregation was illegal and the young black pastor from Montgomery was a national hero. King discovered that there were more advantageous in the civil rights movement than in pastoring a small church in Alabama. Being a civil rights leader meant more glory, gold, and gals—many gals.
In 1957 King formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference to fight segregation and achieve civil rights for Blacks, and on May 17, Dr. King spoke to a crowd of 15,000 in Washington, D.C. This young Black was on the move. He found that the pay was better, the perks were greater and the prestige was incredible. The following year he even met with President Eisenhower, and Congress passed the first civil rights bill since Reconstruction!
Because of King and other black agitators, the 1964 Civil Rights Act was passed whereby private businessmen were forbidden by Federal law to make personal choices. While it was good that Blacks (and others) would no longer be discriminated against, it was and is tragic that Congress did not have the intelligence or moral courage to delineate between the good and bad parts of the law. An American businessman (white or black) should have the right to make stupid, financially unwise decisions if he wants because as an American he has a right to fail as well as be stupid. There should be no bailouts at any level for anyone.
At the same time, train and bus stations and other public buildings had separate rest rooms for “Whites” and “Colored.” Again, that is indefensible. There should have been no separate facilities for Whites and Blacks in any publicly owned building because Black taxes built and supported those buildings. However wrong that was, it is also indefensible for government to tell a private businessman he had to serve Blacks (or Whites). That is government taking authority it does not have. Government has the power but not the authority to do so. In other words, an American (of any race) has a right not to like people of other races. In fact, he has a legal right to hate as long as he does not harm another person. Of course, no Christian has that right since he is to be governed by Biblical standards. I am saying that property rights are more important than a person’s right to get a hair cut or purchase a ham sandwich.
Vice President Hubert Humphrey promised us that the Civil Rights Act would not result in quotas–affirmative action. If so, he promised to eat the 800 pages of the Act. Too bad, he is not alive today to carry out his promise!
Therefore, I will shock many Conservatives and say that Rosa Parks was right when she refused to give up her seat to a white person! When she was arrested, King came to her defense, and I applaud him and her (although I believe he “used” her). In May of 1956, the buses of Montgomery were integrated. No longer would a Black be forced to surrender his seat to a White. But the young pastor was not satisfied with his (their) victory. He demanded “employment of Negro bus drivers for predominantly Negro routes.” That meant white drivers in black areas would be replaced by Blacks. King had tasted success and liked it. It didn’t matter about white drivers’ contracts, seniority, their ability, their families, etc. Replace them with Blacks or else!
The chickens had come home to roost. Many white officials (and others) had mistreated so many Blacks for so many years, but that had come to an end. Now, white citizens would have to pay for the many years of mistreatment of Blacks. Many Blacks and Whites think that is a noble concept. I don’t.
Where it is possible to prove that a Black has been treated unfairly by any government entity, i.e., city, county, or federal then that Black should be compensated. If a man was refused promotion in the military because he was black, then he deserves to be compensated for the unfair treatment. However, for many reasons I do not believe in a general compensation plan or reparations. It is a ploy used by people without character who are looking for something for nothing.
(1st of 8 columns to be released every other day.)
———-
Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives, author of 13 books, frequent guest on television and radio talk shows, and wrote columns for USA Today for 8 years His most recent book is ISLAM: America’s Trojan Horse! His websites are www.cstnews.com and www.Muslimfact.com.)
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