News, 'That man's terrible': Secret Jackie Kennedy tapes reveal her disgust over Martin Luther King's (general, Lincoln)

[Theophane]

News, 'That man's terrible': Secret Jackie Kennedy tapes reveal her disgust over Martin Luther King's

Jackie Kennedy thought he was terrible because he did not meekly accept the racist status quo of that time and place. In other words, MLK was uppity.

Oh good grief!

[markg91359]

Based primarily on what J.Edgar Hoover intimated. Either way, the tapes in question where made after Hoover presented Jackie with tapes alleging one thing of another, but as Caroline Kennedy recounts, her mother changed her opinion over time and I might note attended King's funeral.

I don't doubt the essential point that Martin Luther King was involved in extramarital sex. Besides the FBI tapes gathered during Cointelpro there are accounts that since appeared. Ralph Abernathy stated he observed something going on between MLK and a woman in his autobiography. A woman named Georgia Powers who was a state senator from Kentucky was present at the Lorraine Motel when MLK was assassinated. She has written a biography indicating she had an affair with him as well.

What those who call this man a "hypocrite" and "immoral" would do well to remember is the stress MLK spent the last decade of his life under. He had to go on many, many trips away from home to push along the cause of Civil Rights. He lived under constant fear of being killed or wounded. In fact, some years before he had been stabbed in the chest with a knife while making a visit to Harlem. Most of the time that MLK wasn't speaking, he spent indoors in motels because he couldn't really go out and do things we take for granted. Of course, he also spent some time in southern jails where given the history of lynching black men he must have been scared out of his mind. He couldn't shop, go to a movie, or even go for a walk. It doesn't really surprise me that he engaged in extra-marital sex. It was one of the few things he could do.

Now, in the scheme of things what is all that worth? Virtually nothing. It doesn't change the fact that MLK lead an unprecedented Civil Rights/ Human Rights Movement in which African American people made huge strides toward equality. Many people remember MLK for the very intellectual and charismatic speeches he made like the "I Have a Dream Speech". These were good, but I tend to remember him for other more simple and poignant exchanges he had. This is a wonderful informal conversation between talk show host Mike Douglas and MLK. In this conversation, MLK even cracks a joke or two and explains in very human terms his opposition to the Vietnam War.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SfH2uMayks

In the end, MLK not only advocated Civil Rights, he advocated human rights for everyone including some of the poor whites who occupied the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. One of the most fascinating things about this man is the way that he grew during the Civil Rights struggle. He came to view his struggle as one that was less a struggle between black and white people as a conflict between rich and poor people.

I don't know what Jackie Kennedy really thought of MLK. She and Martin were very different people coming from very different stratas of society. She was born to wealth. Martin grew up as a black man in the south and experienced racism and even deprivation at times. Maybe Jackie couldn't understand his constantly "agitating" for change. On the other hand, Martin saw this as merely standing up for rights that he and his race had been denied for almost 200 years (by a country that founded on the premise that "All men are created equal").

Whatever Jackie ultimately thought about MLK or whatever the imperfections in his private life, Martin was a great American who lead a great cause. We all benefited from what he did. I'm glad we celebrate him with a holiday.

[texdav]

Originally Posted by Jeramie D

I don't think her feelings about King had much to do with his stance on civil rights. The guy was a notorious philanderer (though to be fair, Jackie should've been more disgusted with photos of her own husband if this is her barometer for a good man).

Ype he was much like JFK ithat reagrd. Mnay of her fornds say she would not ahve stayed with JFK after his second term.

[DewDropInn]

Originally Posted by jmking

I'm from the area too, born and raised. My opinion is she is a Northerner not a Southern bell at all, just the opposite.

She was a Northerner. Born and bred.

[DrummerBoy]

Not surpising at all. And I wouldn't be surprised if JFK also disliked MLK. I mean, sure, he was considered a liberal, but that lable fit him best as far as fiscal matters were concerned; JFK was a died-in-the-wool member of the Democratic mindset of Big Government; Tax & Spend. He did very little in the way of attempting to pass Civil Rights Legislation. No real progress would be made in that arena until LBJ came along with his "Great Society" platform.
The Kennedys--and Bouviers--enjoyed privileged upbringings and had the super-sized egos that often go along with that. Thusly, they almost certainly subscribed to the school of thought that, being rich and smart and well-connected, they knew what was best for society. And that included the fact that some poor, less ofrtunate and educated peoples--like blacks--simply needed someone to watch over them; for their own good. Rudyard Kipling--in regards to England's colonization of India--referred to this responsibility as "the white man's burden."
I'm sure the Kennedys thought they inherited this "burden" as well. And so, they reckoned that MLK was sort of an insurrectionist, guilty of rallying his people to a freedom that they couldn't really handle.
I suppose the Kennedys meant well, its just that their limited experience with blacks hampered their views. I would go so far as saying that, if you were to somehow hear the Kennedys' views back then on the black person, you would lable them as "racists."
It was just a different type of racism; one not born of anger. Just ignorance.
One caveat: when I said "the Kennedys" I meant Jackie and JFK. I think Bobby probably had a better, farier, grasp of the race issues. He also posessed more sincerity and was a "true believer" in equality, not simply a poseur.

[Cav Scout wife]

Originally Posted by PatDJohns

MLK has been lionized because he was a GREAT MAN. There are very, very few men who I hold in the same esteem as MLK. Whatever his private life, he was quite possibly the greatest American poliitician for what he accomplished.

Christian hypocrisy my a%$!

That IS hypocricy.

The Christian Bible says not to be a man ho with any other woman but your wife, and he didn't "obey" that part of the book, so yes that is hypocricy.

[gwillyfromphilly]

I think the true underlining question that most people are thinking is "What is Jackie Kennedy's true opinion about the civil rights movement?"

[cablejockey]

It wasnt just MLK that she didnt have praise for--also scathingly remarked about were, De Galle (and all the French)/Indira Ghandi/Mamie Eisenhower/Lyndon Johnson/Gov John Connolly.
In a given moment of any of our lives could we stand to hear our opinions and remarks played back to us at a later date? I dont think so. Our ideas and opinions constantly change as we grow and mature--or at least they should.

[DewDropInn]

Originally Posted by gwillyfromphilly

I think the true underlining question that most people are thinking is "What is Jackie Kennedy's true opinion about the civil rights movement?"

When she was told Oswald had shot her husband she said something like, "He didn't even have the satisfaction of dying for Civil Rights. It had to be some silly communist." (Not an exact quote but close.)

[goldengrain]

Yes. I have said stupid things to close friends that I now take back. Fortunately, they are close friends and are gracious enough to give me wiggle room with my opinions.

We all put our foot in our mouths at times but usually we are not remembered for that, thank goodness. Isn't that what life is about for most of us, growth?