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A WITNESS TO TRUTH
(EULOGY FOR THE REVEREND JAMES REEB)
BY MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Delivered Rev. Reeb’s eulogy
One of the
most moving in American History (Google Images)
In March 1965, The Reverend James Reeb,
traveled to
Unitarian Minister Rev. James Reeb, M. Div.
Princeton U. (Google Images)
"And if he should die, take his body, and cut it into little stars. He
will make the face of heaven so fine that all the
world will be in love with night"
These beautiful words from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet so eloquently
describe the radiant life of James Reeb. He entered
the stage of history just 38 years ago, and in the brief years that he was
privileged to act on this mortal stage, he played his part exceedingly well.
James Reeb was martyred in the Judeo-Christian faith
that all men are brothers. His death was a result of a sensitive religious
spirit. His crime was that he dared to live his faith; he placed himself
alongside the disinherited black brethren of this community.
The world is aroused over the murder of James Reeb. For he symbolizes the forces of good will in our nation. He
demonstrated the conscience of the nation. He was an attorney for the defense
of the innocent in the court of world opinion. He was a witness to the truth
that men of different races and classes might live, eat, and work together as
brothers.
James Reeb could not be accused of being only
concerned about justice for Negroes away from home. He and his family live in
Naturally, we are compelled to ask the question, Who
killed James Reeb? The answer is simple and rather
limited, when we think of the who. He was murdered by
a few sick, demented, and misguided men who have the strange notion that you express
dissent through murder. There is another haunting, poignant, desperate question
we are forced to ask this afternoon, that I asked a few days ago as we funeralized James Jackson. It is the question, What killed James Reeb? When we
move from the who to the what, the blame is wide and
the responsibility grows.
James Reeb was murdered by the indifference of every
minister of the gospel who has remained silent behind the safe security of
stained glass windows. He was murdered by the irrelevancy of a church that will
stand amid social evil and serve as a taillight rather than a headlight, an
echo rather than a voice. He was murdered by the irresponsibility of every
politician who has moved down the path of demagoguery, who has fed his
constituents the stale bread of hatred and the spoiled meat of racism. He was
murdered by the brutality of every sheriff and law enforcement agent who
practices lawlessness in the name of law. He was murdered by the timidity of a
federal government that can spend millions of dollars a day to keep troops in
So in his death, James Reeb says something to each of
us, black and white alike-says that we must substitute courage for caution,
says to us that we must be concerned not merely about who murdered him, but
about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murder.
His death says to us that we must work passionately, unrelentingly, to make the
American dream a reality, so he did not die in vain.
God still has a way of bringing good out of evil. History has proven over and
over again that unmerited suffering is redemptive. The innocent blood of this
fine servant of God may well serve as the redemptive force that will bring new
light to this dark state. This tragic death may lead our nation to substitute
aristocracy of character for aristocracy of color. James Reeb
may cause the whole citizenry of
So in spite of the darkness of this hour, we must not despair. As preceding
speakers have said so eloquently, we must not become bitter nor must we harbor
the desire to retaliate with violence; we must not lose faith in our white
brothers who happen to be misguided. Somehow we must still believe that the
most misguided among them will learn to respect the dignity and worth of all
human personalities....
One day the history of this great period of social change will be written in
all of its completeness. On that bright day our nation will recognize its real
heroes. They will be thousands of dedicated men and women with a noble sense of
purpose that enables them to face fury and hostile mobs with the agonizing
loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneers. They will be faceless,
anonymous, relentless young people, black and white, who have temporarily left
behind the towers of learning to storm the barricades of violence. They will be
old, oppressed, battered Negro women, symbolized in a 72-year-old Negro woman
in
So I can say to you this afternoon, my friends, that in spite of the tensions
and uncertainties of this period, something profoundly meaningful is taking
place. Old systems of exploitation and oppression are passing away. Out of the
wombs of a frail world, new systems of justice and equality are being born.
Doors of opportunity are gradually being opened. Those at the bottom of
society, shirtless and barefoot people of the land, are developing a new sense
of somebody-ness, carving a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of
despair. "People who stand in darkness have seen a great light." Here
and there an individual or group dares to love and rises to the majestic
heights of moral maturity.
Therefore I am not yet discouraged about the future. Granted, the easygoing
optimism of yesteryear is impossible. Granted, that those who pioneered in the
struggle for peace and freedom will still face uncomfortable jail terms and
painful threats of death; they will still be battered by the storms of
persecution, leading them to the nagging feeling that they can no longer bear
such a heavy burden; the temptation of wanting to retreat to a more quiet and
serene life. Granted, that we face a world crisis, which
leaves us standing so often amid the surging murmur of life's restless seas.
But every crisis has both its dangers and its opportunities, its valleys of
salvation or doom in a dark, confused world. The
I say, in conclusion, the greatest tribute that we can pay to James Reeb this afternoon is to continue the work he so nobly
started but could not finish because his life-like the Schubert
"Unfinished Symphony"-was cut off at an early age. We have the
challenge and charge to continue. We must work right here in Alabama, and all
over the United States, till men everywhere will respect the dignity and worth
of human personalities. We must work with all our hearts to establish a society
where men will be-that "out of one blood God made all men to dwell upon
the face of the earth." We must work with determination for that great
day. "Justice will roll down like water, and righteousness like a mighty
stream." We must work right here, where "every valley shall be
exalted, every mountain and hill shall be made low, the rough places will be
made plain, and the crooked places straight. The glory of the Lord shall be
revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." We must work to make the
Declaration of Independence real in our everyday lives. If we will do this, we
will be able-right here in
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