Confl uence of Thought This page intentionally left blank Confl uence of Thought Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. BIDYUT CHAKRABARTY 3 Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University’s objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide. Oxford New York Auckland Cape Town Dar es Salaam Hong Kong Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi N ew Delhi Shanghai Taipei Toronto With offi ces in Argentina Austria Brazil Chile Czech Republic France Greece Guatemala Hungary Italy Japan Poland Portugal Singapore South Korea Switzerland Th ailand Turkey Ukraine Vietnam Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University Press in the UK and certain other countries. Published in the United States of America by Oxford University Press 198 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 © Oxford University Press 2013 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of Oxford University Press, or as expressly permitted by law, by license, or under terms agreed with the appropriate reproduction rights organization. Inquiries concerning reproduction outside the scope of the above should be sent to the Rights Department, Oxford University Press, at the address above. You must not circulate this work in any other form and you must impose this same condition on any acquirer. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Chakrabarty, Bidyut, 1958- author. Confl uence of thought : Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. / Bidyut Chakrabarty. pages cm Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–19–995123–9 (pbk.)—ISBN 978–0–19–995121–5 (cloth) 1. Nonviolence. 2. Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948—Infl uence. 3. Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948—Political and social views. 4. King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968— Infl uence. 5. King, Martin Luther, Jr., 1929-1968—Political and social views. I. Title. HM1281.C46 2013 303.6′1—dc23 2012050207 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Dedicated to those fi ghting for human dignity This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS Foreword, by Clayborne Carson ix Preface xiii Abbreviations xv Introduction 1 1. Th e Intellectual Roots of C onfl uence of Th ought 28 Th e Socioeconomic and Political Contexts of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. 29 Intellectual Pilgrimage to Nonviolence: Gandhi 31 Critique of Gandhi: M. N. Roy, Rabindranath Tagore, and B. R. Ambedkar 34 M. N. Roy and Gandhi 35 Rabindranath Tagore and Gandhi 37 B. R. Ambedkar and Gandhi 44 Intellectual Roots of King’s Sociopolitical Ideas 48 Sources of Inspiration 49 Concluding Observations 64 Nature of Protests 65 Religion and Nonviolence 67 2. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.: Defying Liberals, but Deifying Liberalism 70 Politics of Diff erence 71 Th e Problematique 75 Gandhi’s “Liberal” Dilemma 79 Martin Luther King Jr. and the American Enlightenment 83 An American Dilemma and Its Impact 92 Reinhold Niebuhr and King 95 King’s Liberal Challenge to Racial Prejudices 100 Th inking Alike 104 Concluding Observations 116 3. Articulation of a New Ideology: Gandhi’s Approach to Human Equality 122 Gandhi in South Africa (1893–1914) 123 Gandhi in India 129 viii Contents Gandhi on the All-India Scene 133 Th e Rise of Gandhi as a Pan-Indian Leader: Th e Noncooperation and Civil Disobedience Movements 136 Th e Noncooperation Movement (1920–22) 137 Th e Noncooperation Movement: Consolidation of Gandhi 141 Th e Civil Disobedience Movement (1930–32) 143 Do or Die: Gandhi’s Articulation of Freedom 146 Th e August Revolution: A Radical Movement 149 Concluding Observations 150 4. Challenging Jim Crow: King’s Approach to Racial Discrimination 154 Th e 1955 Montgomery Bus Strike 158 Th e 1941 March on Washington 167 Th e 1963 March on Washington 169 Th e Birmingham Campaign, 1963 174 Th e Selma-to-Montgomery March, 1965 180 Concluding Observations 185 Conclusion 189 Notes 209 Bibliographical Notes and Select Bibliography 243 Index 257 FOREWORD Bidyut Chakrabarty has written one of those unusual books that actually deliv- ers more to readers than is suggested by the title. His book succeeds not only as a concise and cogent comparative discussion of the ideas of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., but also as an insightful examination of the broader historical and intellectual context from which both leaders emerged. Informed by Dr. Chakrabarty’s familiarity with the extensive literature regarding Gandhi and King, Confl uence of Th ought sheds light on the political, cultural, religious, and intellectual milieus that shaped the worldviews of the twentieth century’s preeminent advocates of nonviolent resistance. Th is book provides an engaging, thought-provoking, and well-researched examination of the lives and times of two of the most infl uential fi gures of the twentieth century. Since becoming the editor of King’s papers a quarter century ago, I have come to realize that King cannot be understood apart from his intellectual encounter with Gandhian nonviolence. Although the Hindu beliefs that Gandhi absorbed during his formative years were quite diff erent from the Christian teachings that King absorbed as the son of a Baptist minister, both were receptive to unconven- tional religious and philosophical ideas. Both were drawn to existing traditions of nonviolent activism and human rights, and both were skilled at adapting the ideas of other activist intellectuals. Both were eclectic rather than original think- ers, although their eclecticism eventually led each of them to develop a distinc- tive body of ideas. Early in their lives, both Gandhi and King were infl uenced by the nineteenth-century American nonconformist Henry David Th oreau, who provided them with a convincing rationale for civil disobedience. It is hardly surprising that Gandhi would exert considerable infl uence over King’s intellectual development. Despite their very diff erent upbringings, they had many qualities in common. Both men benefi ted from exceptional edu- cational opportunities that made them familiar with the ideas of European- American intellectual elites, but they also acquired unshakeable commitments to egalitarianism and social justice. Even as King completed his graduate studies in modern Euro-American theology, he discovered that Gandhi’s “emphasis on love and nonviolence” provided “the method for social reform” he was seeking. By the time he rose to national and international prominence as a spokesperson