MLK and Undocumented Immigration

In the book What Would Martin Say? by Clarence Jones, former advisor to, and speechwriter for, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., recounts his relationship with Dr. King and posits what he believes the civil rights leader would think about today’s political and social issues. Ranging from the war in Iraq (King would support) to affirmative action (would oppose) and illegal immigration, Mr. Jones presents his thoughts in conversation with Eva Paterson, president and founder of the Equal Justice Society. Mr. Jones is currently a scholar in residence at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford University.

On “illegal immigration,” Jones opines that Dr. King would be against it because of the the impacts on the African American community.  Jones challenges  “the moral brazenness of those without the legal right to be here who demand that Americans treat them as though they were decorated soldiers or fighters for constitutional rights.”  Jones touches on some of the difficult issues of African American and Latina/o immigrant conflict that has been well-analyzed over the years, including recently by Jennifer Gordon and Robin Lenhardt.

It may be wishful thinking but I like to think that Jones’s speculations do not have it right about Dr. King’s views about some pressing issues of the day.  It would seem difficult for Dr. King to reconcile opposition to the war in Viet Nam with support for the war in Iraq.  On affirmative action, one would hope that Dr. King might offer some alternative that might increase the numbers of African Americans in higher education.  And it seems to me more likely that Dr. King would side with many other religious leaders of many orthodoxies for the more humane treatment of immigrants and all peoples rather than to join the “close the borders” crowd of Tom Tancredo.  Perhaps Dr. King would support a new multiracial civil rights movement that includes immigrants?

For interviews of Clarence Jones about the book, click here and here.

KJ