Rev. King on the White Church

Watching the White church continue to follow President Trump reminds me of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail.” Near the letter’s end, King voices his disappointment with the White church of his day. I’ll quote three passages that keep coming to mind, providing brief commentary on each.

Passage One:

Let me rush on to mention my other disappointment. I have been disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions…

 

But despite these exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been disappointed with the church. I do not say that as one of those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the church. I say it as a minster of the gospel who loves the church, who was nurtured in its bosom, who has been sustained by its Spiritual blessings, and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen.

My Commentary:

Note that King explicitly mentions his disappointment with the White church. Indeed, he reiterates it. And his reiteration sets up his subsequent use of an expanded sense of “Church.” Here King implicitly reminds his readers that the white church is not equivalent to the Church. King also reminds his readers that he is a minister of the Church’s gospel who has been and remains a committed Churchman. Love for the Church motivates his ecclesiastical critiques.

Passage Two:

I had the strong feeling when I was suddenly catapulted into leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery several years ago that we would have the support of the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests, and rabbis of the South would be some of our strongest allies. Instead, some few have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting its leaders; all too many have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows.

 

In spite of my shattered dreams of the past, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white religious leadership of this community would see the justice of our case and with deep moral concern serve as the channel through which our just grievances could get to the power structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed.

My Commentary:

King again speaks in a race-conscious ecclesiastical register, mentioning the hope he had early in his non-violent leadership career that the White church would support the Black Civil Rights Movement. He then speaks of “White” leaders within and without the Church. Here we must see that King racializes Jews as White (which is controversial, even if it has historic precedent) and continues the letters focus on replying to Christian and Jewish leaders that condemned his anti-segregation protests in Birmingham, Alabama.

King shifts his focus from Alabama to Mississippi, noting how White religious leaders he thought would support the Black freedom struggle years ago didn’t. Some of these leaders became vocal opponents to his anti-racist work. Refusals to understand the freedom movement and misrepresentations of the movement’s leadership characterized the opponent’s resistance. Other White leaders chose to be silent. Both groups disappointed King.

Despite those historic disappointments, King says he hoped that the White religious leadership in Birmingham would be different. More specifically, King hoped they would bring the justice of the Black freedom movement’s “to the power structure”—he hoped White ecclesiastical leaders would pressure White civic leaders to promote anti-racist justice rather than White power. They did not.

Final Passage:

The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church’s often vocal sanction of things as they are.

 

But the judgement of God is upon the church as never before. If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. I meet young people every day whose disappointment with the church has risen to outright disgust.

My Final Commentary:

Here King doesn’t explicitly speak in a race-conscious register. He writes simply about “the church.” Given the context, it appears he principally has the White church in mind (this passage comes but two paragraphs after King discusses his historic and present disappointment with the White church and White religious leaders). But it is reasonable to conclude that he’s also frustrated with portions of the Black church—to say nothing of other racialized communities within the Church catholic. (Regarding the Black church, I’m reminded of two recent critiques; see here and here).

Let us assume, then, that King is primarily speaking about the White church. On this reading, King condemns the White church as lacking a prophetic voice while often being a vocal supporter of the unjust status quo. Indeed, the racist, oppressive power structures pulsating through many US communities find the presence of White churches consoling.

I find the previous point especially haunting. It seems King is saying the White church of his day had lost its saltiness. No wonder the youth found (find?) it disgusting.