The recent explosion of black-on-white vicious and hateful killings -- the murder of thirteen-month-old Antonio Santiago, the shooting of nurse David Santucci in Memphis, the murder of Australian student Chris Lane, the beating death of elderly veteran Delbert Belton -- have served to put an end to one of the great myths of the civil rights movement: that black leadership would lead the country out of racism into an epoch of national reconciliation.
One of the assumptions behind the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s was that black participants (not to overlook their white supporters) had a moral claim infinitely superior to that of their opponents. There is certainly a large measure of truth to this. There's no meaningful measure of comparison between Ralph Bunche, James Meredith, Ralph Abernathy, or Martin Luther King and the Bilbos, Faubuses, and Wallaces who comprised the defenders of segregation.
(As for those who want to criticize Rev. King for his numerous affairs -- that is a private matter with no connection the subject at issue. Alpha males often misbehave in that fashion -- it's part of the package, an aspect of the human condition. Douglas MacArthur had a 17-year-old Filipina mistress before he settled down. If you can square that circle, then you can dismiss Dr. King.)
The high moral authority of its leadership characterized the entire movement. King's adaptation of a Gandhian nonviolence strategy within a "turn the other cheek" Christian framework was a key element in elevating the effort. The refusal of marchers and demonstrators to strike back elicited admiration even from those skeptical of their aims. Of the numerous killings that occurred during the civil rights era, not a single one can be ascribed to an active supporter, despite immense provocations from segregationists.
But even as the movement reached...
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