The Triple Evils of poverty, racism, and war are forms of violence that exist in a vicious cycle. They are interrelated, all-inclusive, and stand as barriers to our living in the "Beloved Community." When we work to remedy one evil, we affect all evils. The issues change in accordance with the political and social climate of our nation and world.
POVERTY – materialism, unemployment, homelessness, hunger, malnutrition, illiteracy, infant mortality, slums… "There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we now have the resources to get rid of it. The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty … The well off and the secure have too often become indifferent and oblivious to the poverty and deprivation in their midst. Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for "the least of these."
RACISM – prejudice, apartheid, anti-Semitism, sexism, colonialism, homophobia, ageism, discrimination against differently abled, stereotypes… "Racism is a philosophy based on a contempt for life. It is the arrogant assertion that one race is the center of value and object of devotion, before which other races must kneel in submission. It is the absurd dogma that one race is responsible for all the progress of history and alone can assure the progress of the future. Racism is total estrangement. It separates not only bodies, but minds and spirits. Inevitably it descends to inflicting spiritual and physical homicide upon the out-group."
WAR – militarism, imperialism, domestic violence, rape, terrorism, media violence, drugs, child abuse… "A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war- 'This way of settling differences is not just.' This way of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death."
from Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boston: Beacon Press, 1967.
7 comments
Comments feed for this article
May 1, 2006 at 11:59 am
Bill
First of all, the mulitple meanings given for each of the
“Triple Evils” make for some serious miscommunications and
misunderstandings! Poverty, racism and war each have a specific
meaning and to clump other various and sundry concepts under these
three headings is confusing, counterproductive and certainly appears
to be an attempt to manipulate language in order to further a
particular political agenda. Secondly, in order to begin to solve all
the world’s problems, it will be necessary to acknowledge those
problems WHEREVER they occur, not just in America. I find using the
United States as the world’s whipping boy particularly troubling
since, if anything, the U. S. should be used as a role model for the
concepts of freedom of speech, travel, association, etc…as well as
the freedom to determine one’s own destiny in terms educational
choices, employment choices, or starting a business. There is no place
in the world where women, ethnic and religious groups are freer than
here in the United States of America. Sure, we’re not perfect but
because we’re free to speak out and voice our opinions, we have the
ability to make positive changes. Not so for most other nations of the
world. It would take volumes to cover the almost total lack of human
rights in most of the rest of the world, including and especially the
items enumerated under this essay’s so-called “Triple Evils.” The
brutality, savagery, genocide, sexual abuse, slavery, oppression–you
name it, are unspeakably horrific and commonplace in much of the
world, and people dare to point to the United States. It’s really hard
to imagine what they’re thinking. We need to be honest about our
agendas and if we truly seek to make this world a better place, then
we need to give credit where credit is due and place blame where blame
exists. A case in point is the Kyoto Agreement, which calls for the U.
S., who has already made tremendous strides toward cleaning up the
environment and who was the country that first raised the
consciousness of the world to the issue, to implement crippling
environmental policies while the nations who are pointing the finger
at us go on destroying the planet with uncontrolled, runaway toxic
waste and atmospheric pollution. If we really want to make a better
world for our children, then let’s speak the truth and be honest about
who’s doing what, because only then can any meaningful improvement
take place.
May 1, 2006 at 4:19 pm
Helen Losse
Bill, first of all, the multiple meanings under each of the three evils can be explained by King’s refusal to “segregate [his] conscience,” which is the reason he spoke out against the Vietnam War at Riverside Church in 1967, although he angered both his comrades in the Civil Rights Movement and members of the LBJ Administration by doing so. Although all of the “meanings” are not King’s words, we can be relatively sure this is how he would have felt if he not be assassinated. Second, I think the idea of the US as “whipping boy” is silly. As a citizen of the US, I (and I presume you) can vote in elections. I can support candidates that will make the US a role model. I cannot do anything about the laws of other countries, because I cannot vote there, and neither can anyone else in the US. What we can do is lead by example. Therefore, we must judge ourselves and our nation harder than other nations. Is judging ourselves so we can improve ourselves what you call being a “whipping boy”? We can’t clean up the environment in other countries, but the world’s all hooked together (air can cross borders freely,) so we can make the world cleaner. Every little bit helps. If we take address our own problems first, we will solve more of them and be happier as a people.
John, I spent two years reading, conducting other research, and writing my master’s thesis, “Making All Things New: The Redemptive Value of Unmerited Suffering in the Life and Works of Martin Luther King Jr.” (Wake Forest University, 2000). I know more about King’s sex life than J. Edgar Hoover! And I know that the FBI’s Operation Zorro, the “most extensive surveillance [ever] undertaken by the FBI,” according to Arthur Murtaugh (of the Atlanta FBI office), found out more about King’s sex life than it did about subversive activities. Years after King’s death King’s death, the FBI finally concluded what they knew in 1963: King was not associated with the Communist Party. (See Department of Justice Task Force, Report of the Department of Justice to Review the Martin Luther King Jr. Security and Assassination Investigations, 11 January 1977, p. 141.)
In the early days of the movement (during the Montgomery Bus Boycott), King had ties to Stanley Levison, a New York lawyer and former American Communist Party member, who formed a group “In Friendship” and did some fund raising for King in early 1956. (David J. Garrow, Bearing the Cross, p. 84). JFK later issued an executive order prohibiting King from any “communication with Levison.” King kept in touch, however, and Levison served a “liaison between King and the editors and publishers of King’s Stride Toward Freedom.” (Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters, p.851) King thought for a long time before he spoke out against the Vietnam War. He knew it would cut him off from the LBJ White House, that has been responsible for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and from other Civil Rights leaders. King was, however, first and foremost, a preacher of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He felt that his calling, both as preacher and as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, took him “beyond national alliances.” (King, “A Time to Break Silence”) Toward the end of his life, King was over-worked, depressed, and lonely. He grew distant from people and closer to God. He began to prophesy.
Additionally, with respect to the historical period prior to the 60s, we may note that a number of African Americans toyed with the idea of Communism. Richard Wright and James Baldwin come to mind. Black people were living the hell we called “Jim Crow” back then. And desperate times call for desperate means. How would we deal with such hatred? Maya Angelou said, “The cost of freedom is everything, all the time.” Dr. King never said, “By any means necessary,” but Malcolm X did.
The best sources for information concerning King’s relationship to the Communist Party are:
Branch, Taylor. Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954-63. New York: Touchstone, 1988.
————–. Pillar of Fire: America In the King Years, 1963-65. New York: Touchstone, 1998.
————. At Canaan’s Edge: America In the King Years, 1965-68. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006.
Garrow, David J. Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. New York: Vintage Books, 1988.
May 5, 2011 at 1:08 pm
tyrone
Since when does your vote mean anything in this country? Too many naive Americans still believe that their votes count. Wake up, this is not a democracy (government of the people, by the people, for the people), it is an illusion. The elected officials serve the needs of the corporations and big businesses and couldn’t give a damn about the needs of the people. It is profits that matter in politics in this country, it is again the big businesses that toke the jobs overseas in the name of profits. That is why the corporations through their lobbyist contribute so much big money in election campaigns. Americans are bullies. Over seven hundred and sixty military bases in the world. Militarism is a profit making machine. We are backing up our so call search for a peaceful world with military might. Is not that bullying? If we have faith in God and the teachings of Jesus, then love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them hate you, and pray for them which despite-fully use and persecute you. Might never makes right. Now what exactly is wrong with communism? The hard earned successes of this nation is being undermined by present greed, selfishness and a heightened tendency of fear that is permeating every aspect of American lives. Practice love and show genuine concern for others, it is not them and us, it is only us (the brotherhood of man), instead of sacrificing ourselves on the alter of materialism.
Peace and love my sister.
May 1, 2006 at 11:15 pm
Bill
Helen,
If I understand correctly, the expression “refusal to segregate the conscience” would be equivalent to “being a person of integrity,” that is, standing up for what is right in all situations, regardless of whom you might offend or alienate in the process. If that is the case, then I still don’t understand the rational for expanding and altering the definitions of the “Triple Evils” beyond their accepted meanings. Why not just speak clearly and use the precise word for the appropriate situation? I believe good communication is more effective for bringing about positive change. As far as my “whipping boy” remark, I think it is counterproductive not to recognize our successes and accomplishments. If we can’t acknowledge our accomplishments and be proud of them, how can we put a measure on our progress and set goals for the future? Why should we “judge ourselves and our nation harder than other nations”? What virtue is there in doing that? Why not simply view ourselves and others realistically so we can act appropriately to make real progress? Our standards for liberty, justice, tolerance, environmental quality, etc., are already much higher than those of other nations. What benefit is there in remaining silent in the face of social injustice, genocide and destruction of the environment, regardless of where it occurs? If these issues are not brought out into the open, then how can they be dealt with? Darkness flees from the light. We don’t have to be citizens of other countries in order to speak out on these issues and help effect change.
January 18, 2010 at 5:51 pm
Listening to Martin Luther King, Malcolm X and James Cone » Young Anabaptist Radicals
[…] just about sitting down and being friends. Some of us have heard of his radical critique of the triple evils of poverty, racism and war. But in Malcolm & Martin & America: a Dream or a Nightmare?, James Cone goes far […]
January 20, 2010 at 11:20 am
Questions: Global and Local - Uptown Notes
[…] 7) Why do you think King’s life work was about integration, when it was really about fighting poverty, war, and racism? […]
May 31, 2013 at 7:27 pm
Photovoltaic Technology
We did issue our second quarter will be better than our first quarter 2011 financial results and recent developments for Green Plains.
A similar scheme for Northern Ireland is among the proposals in a current consultation by the Department
of Energy is working on a contract with Ocean
Solar Wind Jammer Power Co. S ethanol Looking at the consolidated income
statement for the third quarter of 2011 compared to the rest
of the year.