When we remember the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., we
rightfully envision the titan of the Civil Rights Movement, the man whose dream
of racial equality echoes from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Yet, to
confine his moral vision only to the struggle of Black Americans is to miss the
universal scope of his philosophy. For Dr. King, the fight for justice was
indivisible. His powerful, principled, and often-overlooked stand against
antisemitism reveals the true depth of his commitment to human dignity.
Dr. King’s opposition to antisemitism was not an
afterthought or a political convenience; it was a core component of his
worldview, rooted in a shared understanding of oppression. He saw a direct and
chilling parallel between the systemic racism faced by Black people and the
ancient, enduring hatred faced by Jews. In a 1968 speech, just before his
death, he drew the connection in stark terms: “The segregationist and the
anti-Semite are brothers.”
For King, hatred was a singular, malevolent force that
simply changed its target. The same logic that fueled Jim Crow, he argued, was
the logic that fueled pogroms and the Holocaust. Both were built on the
dehumanization of a people, the creation of an "other" to be blamed,
feared, and subjugated.
The Black-Jewish Alliance: A Partnership in Struggle
Dr. King’s words were fortified by action. The Civil Rights
Movement of the 1950s and 60s was the high-water mark of the Black-Jewish
alliance. Jewish activists and philanthropists were among the most dedicated
allies to the cause. Rabbis, like Abraham Joshua Heschel who famously marched
alongside King in Selma, saw the fight for civil rights as a sacred duty.
Jewish students traveled south for Freedom Summer, and two of them, Andrew
Goodman and Michael Schwerner, were martyred alongside their Black colleague,
James Chaney, in Mississippi in 1964.
This tangible partnership gave Dr. King a profound
appreciation for the Jewish community’s commitment to justice. He understood
that their support came from a place of deep historical empathy. "How
could there be anti-Semitism among Negroes when our Jewish friends have
demonstrated their devotion to the principle of tolerance and brotherhood in
their magnificent support of the civil rights struggle?" he once lamented.
The Complex Intersection of Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism
As the political landscape shifted in the late 1960s, a new
and complex challenge emerged: the relationship between anti-Zionism and antisemitism.
Following the 1967 Six-Day War, criticism of Israel intensified, particularly
within more radical factions of the Black Power movement, causing friction with
former Jewish allies.
Here, Dr. King refused to waver. While he supported peace
and justice for all people in the Middle East, including Palestinians, he was
unequivocal in his support for Israel’s right to exist and saw its denial as a
new, insidious form of an old hatred.
His most famous and potent statement on the subject comes
from a widely-cited text known as the “Letter to an Anti-Zionist Friend.” While
its direct authorship is debated by some historians, the sentiments expressed
perfectly align with his public statements. The letter makes a sharp, clear
distinction:
“You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you
are merely ‘anti-Zionist’... And I say, let the truth ring forth from the high
mountain tops, let it echo through the valleys of God's green earth: When
people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You are talking anti-Semitism.”
For Dr. King, Israel represented more than a geopolitical
entity; it was a necessary and just homeland for a people who had been
persecuted for millennia. He viewed it as a "stark necessity" in the
wake of the Holocaust. To deny that right, in his view, was to deny Jews the
same right to self-determination and security that all people deserved. He made
a crucial distinction that remains relevant today: one could criticize the
specific policies of the Israeli government without being
antisemitic, but to deny the Jewish people’s right to a national home was to
engage in discrimination. "Israel's right to exist as a state is
incontestable," he stated firmly.
A Lasting Legacy of Moral Clarity
Dr. King’s stance against antisemitism was a testament to his
moral consistency. He believed that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere.” He did not see human rights as a zero-sum game where one group’s
liberation had to come at the expense of another’s security.
In a world still grappling with prejudice, his voice offers
a timeless lesson. He teaches us that true solidarity requires recognizing and
fighting bigotry in all its forms, even when it is politically inconvenient.
His legacy is a powerful reminder that the struggles against racism and antisemitism
are not separate battles, but fronts in the same war—the universal human war
for dignity, recognition, and peace.
