To William E. Newgent
Author: King, Martin Luther, Jr.
Date: October 20, 1959
Location: Montgomery, Ala.?
Genre: Letter
Topic: Martin Luther King, Jr. - Career in Ministry
Details
In a 12 October letter, a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) asked King for biblical citations used by segregationists “to back up their stand.”1 King directs him to two passages, cautioning that their use is “a glaring misrepresentation of what the Scripture teaches.”2
Mr. William E. Newgent
17-67th Avenue, S.E.
Washington 27, D.C.
Dear Mr. Newgent:
This is just a note to acknowledge your letter making inquiry of the passages of scripture that the segregationists use in an attempt to justify their position. One argument that they used is that the Negro is inferior by nature because of Noah's curse upon the children of Ham.3 As you well know, this is a misinterpretation of an incident that is recorded in the Book of Genesis. The 17th Chapter and 26th Verse of the Book of Acts is used also.4 It is the last part of this verse that is used which states “and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.” You may read this whole passage and see it is a glaring misrepresentation of what the Scripture teaches. These are but two of the many arguments that are used.
Yours very truly,
Martin L. King, Jr.
1. William Edgar Newgent (1914-2001) had previously written King a 20 April 1956 letter during the Montgomery bus boycott because he was concerned by reports that King had been asked to resign his Dexter pastorship. In his reply to Newgent, King responded that his congregation backed him “one‐hundred per cent” (King to Newgent, 26 April 1956, in Papers 3:229).
2. In an undated handwritten outline King maintained that Christian ministers must “speak out on the segregation issue” because some individuals “attempt to justify segregation on the basis of the Bible” (King, “Why the Christian Must Oppose Segregation,” 1954-1964).
3. King refers to Genesis 9:24-25: “And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren.”
4. “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.”
Source: MLKP, MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954-1968, Boston University, Boston, Mass.