By Janice R. Greene / For The Herald
The Snohomish County branch of the NAACP was very disappointed to read a recent opinion piece regarding the historical relationship between the YMCA and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (“MLK Jr. drew from skills he learned at his YMCA,” Jan. 13, The Herald).
While the Butler Street YMCA may have provided community space for Martin Luther King Jr. to convene with friends during his adolescence, attributing his unparalleled impact as a civil rights leader primarily to the YMCA severely diminishes the lifelong influences that shaped him.
As the local chapter of the nation’s foremost civil rights organization, we feel compelled to acknowledge the complexity of forces that fueled his journey, especially considering racially insensitive and even arrogant sentiments we still see today. In addition, there is a substantial, ongoing amount of effort by certain segments of the population who live in the U.S. to diminish, distort, and even ban the history of African Americans in this country from being taught.
This opinion piece shifts the focus away from the legacy and present-day relevance and influence of Dr. King and places the spotlight on the YMCA. Are we honoring the YMCA or Dr. King?
Dr. King’s courage, visionary leadership, and enduring legacy stemmed not from any singular organization but from a convergence of formative life experiences: his family, church, education, and broader community being chief among them. His father and grandfather, influential Baptist ministers, instilled moral conviction, resilience in the face of hatred, and a dedication to civil rights from his earliest days. King’s academic and theological training, the philosophical framework of nonviolent resistance, was the hallmark of the movement he led. His peers in the Black church and broader community lifted him up personally during challenging times, coordinating strategically to fuel positive change, embodying the biblical vision he famously shared: “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
While recreational outlets like the YMCA may have contributed some value during Dr. King’s youth, the suggestion that it played the decisive or even primary role in fueling his monumental accomplishments comes across as opportunistic and devalues the many complex influences that shaped him. Dr. King’s legacy was not a product of a single organization but through lifetimes of struggle from countless unsung foot soldiers who came before him, surrounding him, and carrying on after he left us prematurely. We all stand on the shoulders of giants.
As we commemorate Dr. King’s life and enduring vision this January, we must be careful not to oversimplify the monumental social justice movement he represented. Rather than usurping credit, the YMCA and other institutions would do better to follow Dr. King’s bold example by advancing the very causes he lived and died for: eliminating racism, discrimination, hate and poverty in all its forms.
Although providing recreational spaces remains valuable, effecting societal change requires bolder, coordinated efforts toward racial and real justice.
The dream lives on not through nostalgia or platitudes, but through action.
Dr. Janice R. Greene is president of the Snohomish County Chapter of the NAACP.
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