To I. Logan Kearse
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: November 2, 1961
Location: Atlanta, Ga.?
Genre: Letter
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr. - Political and Social Views
Voter registration
Details
Citing his policy against endorsing political candidates, King declines to publicly support Kearse’s bid for Maryland’s Fourth Congressional District seat.1 Kearse was ultimately defeated by incumbent George H. Fallen.2
The Rev. Logan Kearse
Cornerstone Baptist Church of Christ
1627 Bolton Street
Baltimore 17, Maryland
Dear Logan:
It is always difficult to say ‘no’ to a friend. The only consolation that I gain when necessity demands my saying no is that I am sure a friend will understand. I have checked my calendar very scrutinizingly to determine if it would be at all possible for me to be with you in Baltimore sometime before the election in order to stress the importance of voter registration. Two problems confront me at this time. One is the matter of an extremely crowded schedule.
Because of the temper of events in the south, I have had to adopt a policy of spending much more time in this section of the country. My calendar reveals to me that I have accepted the maximum number of engagements that is possible and remain true to my work in the south.
The second problem is at points more potent. For many reasons I have had to follow a course of not endorsing candidates running for political offices. Whenever I have done this, I have confronted many unnecessary problems.3 While the meeting that you are inviting me to speak for will be in the interes of voter registration, I am sure that it is impossible to keep the press, and many people, from interpreting it as an endorsement for your candidacy. I am sure you understand these problems and the reasons why I find it necessary to decline your gracious invitation.
May I say, however, that if there is anything that I can do in the background to aid your election, I will be happy to know what it is. You have my private support, and I will be hoping and praying that you win the election.
God’s blessings to you in all of your significant work. I hope to see you in the not too distant future.
Very sincerely yours,
Mike
MLKjr.m
1. Kearse to King, 25 September 1961. Until the 1964 presidential election, King did not publicly endorse political candidates (SCLC, Press release, Statement on nomination of Barry M. Goldwater, 16 July 1964). In a letter to E. F. Rodriguez, King explains: “I might say that my position all along has been that the Negro should be more of an independent voter than a Republican or a Democrat. This would give him more of a bargaining power, and by following such an approach he would vote for the party that gives the greatest security to the nation” (King to Rodriguez, 19 September 1956). Kearse continued to press for King’s support after hearing that in February 1962 King supported Theodore Trammell’s bid for a Mississippi congressional seat (Kearse to King, 6 April 1962). King later explained to Kearse that he was not planning to endorse Trammell, but instead “happened to have made an appearance at a meeting which, at the time, was not designed to be a political rally” (King to Kearse, 11 April 1962). Ingraham Logan Kearse (1921–1991) was born in South Boston, Virginia. He received his undergraduate degree from Stillman College (1939). In 1954 Kearse became pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Baltimore, and four years later he founded Cornerstone Baptist Church of Christ, also in Baltimore. Active in the local movement, Kearse helped lead a sit-in campaign to desegregate Baltimore restaurants in 1961 and participated in a ministerial protest at City Hall Plaza in support of the Albany Movement in August 1962. Kearse rendered support to the civil rights movement in Albany. In 1964 Kearse was a part of the entourage who went to Oslo, Norway, to see King receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and in 1980 he became president of the Metropolitan Spiritual Churches of Christ.
2. Nathan Miller, “Wilkinson Takes Lead Over Sickles,” Baltimore Sun, 16 May 1962.
3. During the 1960 presidential election, King articulated a similar policy and did not publicly endorse Kennedy or Richard Nixon (Statement on presidential endorsement, 1 November 1960, in Papers 5:537–540).
Source: MLKP-MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954–1968, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University, Boston, Mass.