us
Published January 18, 2021
Matthew Lewis/The Washington Post
As we remember Martin Luther King Jr., it could be easy to fall prey to spreading myths about the civil rights leader.
JEWEL SAMAD/AFP/Getty Images
So you don't fall victim, here are four of the most persistent misconceptions about MLK and four fascinating facts you should know to give you insight into who he really was.
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
Here's the standard take on King's evolution: He grew more radical in the last three years of his life as he turned against the Vietnam War and focused on poverty.
Don Cravens//Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
But that take is wrong. In fact, King was radical much earlier than people realize, some King scholars say.
Underwood Archives/Getty Images
Another rumor: Some say he was abandoning nonviolence. When organizing a "Poor People's Campaign" before he died, King was considering tactics such as directing demonstrators to stop traffic and chain themselves to pillars, a King historian told CNN. King’s tactics evolved, becoming more confrontational, but he didn't give up on his core belief.
Underwood Archives/Getty Images
Another false claim. Actually, King’s father for a long time was a Republican -- as many black people were in the early to mid-20th century when it was the party of Abraham Lincoln.
Walter Bennett/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
Conservatives cite parts of King’s “I Have A Dream” speech as evidence that he opposed affirmative action.
AFP/Getty Images
Although King never used that term, he supported the concept. In his book "Where Do We Go from Here," King wrote that a "society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for the Negro."
AFP/Getty Images
In the history books, King comes off as the stuffy preacher. But that couldn’t be farther from the truth.
Donald Uhrbrock/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
"He was the comedian of the civil rights movement," the Rev. Lewis Baldwin, a MLK historian, told CNN.
Donald Uhrbrock/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
His birth name is Michael Luther King Jr. And despite the federal holiday being celebrated on the third Monday in January, his actual birth date is January 15.
Don Cravens/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images
King was the first African-American to be bestowed Time magazine's honor in 1963.
Reg Lancaster/Express/Getty Images
At 35, he was the youngest person, at the time, to receive the award.
Keystone/Getty Images
In 1956, his house was bombed while he was at a meeting. Then in 1958, nearly a decade before his assassination, King was stabbed in the chest, according to History.com.
William Lovelace/Express/Getty Images