From the archives: Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about 'new age' of race relations in moving Des Moines speech

Editor’s note: This story by Register reporter Robert Barewald originally ran on Nov. 13, 1959.

The old age of racial segregation and discrimination is giving way to a new age of “freedom, justice and human dignity,” the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. said in Des Moines.

Dr. King, organizer of a peaceful Negro boycott of buses in Montgomery, Alabama, in protest against segregated seating, spoke to an audience of about 900 persons in University Christian Church.

“We stand today on the threshold of the most creative and constructive period in the history of race relations,” he said, but added that the new age presents many challenges.

“We are challenged to rise above the narrow confines of our individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity,” he said.

“We must all learn to live together as brothers in the world, or we will all die together as fools.”

The destiny and security of the United States is tied up with the destiny and security of India and every other nation.”

MORE: Former Hawkeyes basketball coach has King's famous 'I have a dream' speech

Cites challenge

“Maybe we have spent a little too much money setting up military bases around the world, rather than setting up bases of genuine concern.”

Dr. King challenged Negroes to take advantage of the opportunities that open as segregation and discrimination barriers begin to wither away.

“In the new age, we will have to be ready to compete with people, not just Negro people,” he said. “We have to do a good job.

“Don’t just go out to be a good Negro doctor or lawyer or laborer. If you do that, you will have flunked your matriculation examination into the university of integration.”

Finally, Dr. King said, “we are challenged to enter the new age with good will and understanding in our hearts.”

He urged that Negroes “never use second-class methods to gain first-class citizenship.”

“It’s hard to like someone who bombs your home, spits on your children or votes the wrong way on civil rights in Washington, but Jesus said, ‘Love your enemies.’

“Somebody must have sense enough in the world to meet hate with love, to meet physical force with soul force, to stand up and say, ‘I will not hate.’"

MORE:

Martin Luther King Jr. quotes: Here are the 10 most tweeted

Read MLK’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech

'Anemia of deeds'

“Segregation is still a reality,” he said. “In every community in this nation, there still is discrimination in housing. Negro people who have the money can’t buy a house anywhere they want to.”

He said the federal government must do more, and so must the churches, many of whom have “high blood pressure of creeds and anemia of deeds,” he said. Negroes themselves must help, he added.

“Integration is not some lavish dish that the white man will pass out on a silver plate while the Negro merely furnishes the appetite.

“We’re not trying to save 17 million Negroes, but we are out to save the soul of America,” Dr. King declared, and the audience broke into applause.

“This is not merely a struggle between black people and white people, but between justice and injustice, between light and darkness.”

Dr. King, a Baptist minister in Montgomery, has gained international fame for his efforts against segregation since he led the 1957 bus boycott.

The Rev. Norman R. Olphin, pastor of Corinthian Baptist Church, who introduced Dr. King, noted that the Gallup Poll in 1957 found him one of the most admired religious leaders in the world.

King’s talk was sponsored by the Des Moines branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.