"Martin Luther King Jr. Arrives in Los Angeles" (Los Angeles, CA, 8/17/1965)

[Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.] Ladies and gentlemen of the press, I have come to Los Angeles at the invitation of a number of concerned individuals and major organizations that have been, like myself, deeply involved in the struggle for civil rights and human dignity. Let me say first of all that I profoundly deplore the events that have occurred in Los Angeles in these last, few tragic days. I believe, and have said on many occasions, that violence is not the answer to social conflict. Whether it is engaged in by white people in Alabama or by Negroes in Los Angeles. Violence is all the more regrettable in this period in light of the tremendous non-violent sacrifices that both Negro and white people together have endured to bring justice to all men. But it is equally clear, as President Johnson pointed out yesterday, that it is a job of all Americans to right the wrongs from which such violence and disorder spring. The criminal responses which led to the tragic outbreaks of violence in Los Angeles are environmental and not racial. The economic deprivation, social isolation, inadequate housing and general despair of thousands of Negroes teeming in northern and western ghettos are the ready seeds which give birth to tragic expressions of violence. By acts of commission and omission none of us in this great country has done enough to remove injustice. I, therefore, humbly suggest that all of us accept our share of responsibility for these past two days of anguish. I should like to state in quite more specific terms why I make this journey in the interests of reconciliation and future cooperation between the races. First, I have come to minister to the thousands of innocent Negro people who have done no wrong... who have a thought in any way to use violence. Yet, whose community has been disrupted by rioting, the destruction of institutions they dearly need, and many of whom have lost their work. This has been, for them, not merely the hardships springing from the disruption of their physical community, it has been a spiritual disaster, deepening their despair and hopelessness. Secondly, I have come to minister, to the small degree that I can, to those who have been involved in the rioting. Our Christian effort must be to redeem them and to leave no stone unturned, despite their guilt, to help them find a useful place in building a good society in which they can share it as equals. In this connection I shall as a first step seek to visit with them in prison and to urge officials to find ways for them to help reconstruct the damage they have done. Thirdly, I would like to confer with the many segments of the white community that have been the staunch allies of the Negro people in our struggle. Surely as millions of Negroes across the country are dismayed, deeply hurt and bewildered by these past few days, it stands to reason that our white friends are also. The strength of the Negro-white alliance for justice will be maintained only if we are in constant dialogue, understanding past mistakes, evolving new programs and providing ways and means to avert any such recurrence of violence. Fourthly, I would like to work with the local leadership of Los Angeles in proposing programs for the eradication of those problems relating to housing, schools, jobs and police behavior that were directly or indirectly related to the disorder. Fifthly, if the local leadership feels that it will be helpful, I'm prepared to sit with them in discussions with public officials on the role and responsibility of governments and to evaluate with them a program that will eliminate such future occurrences in Los Angeles or in any other city of our nation. And I'd like to say two things, finally. And that is, that I have come to listen and to talk with the broad spectrum of leadership and people in all areas of the city particularly in the Watts area and I need to do that before making any value judgments. I'd also like to say that I think it is very unfortunate that statements have been made by public officials to give the impression that the riot developed because local leaders did not do their job. I think we have to see that these riots grew out of many things, particularly, uh... the explosion of accumulated frustrations that have been developing across the years as a result of the long night of poverty and economic insecurity. I think Los Angeles is fortunate to have very able leadership in the Negro community, and no Negro leader at the moment when these explosions had become so great could have appealed to reason because a riot does not listen, a mob does not listen to reason. So I think that the statements that gave the impression on... ...I know is my feeling, as I said earlier, that this was a sort of blind and misguided revolt against society and authority on the part of people who, for many reasons, feel alienated from their nation, from their families in many instances and from themselves and out of self-hatred, self-rejection, frustration, seething desperation. Because of that plight, they unconsciously and consciously turn to these methods. I don't think there was any individual or group that organized a riot. [Reporter] Dr. King do you feel there is a bright side? Any redeeming features... [Man next to Dr. King] Dr. King has a two o'clock appointment...just one more. [Reporter] I talked to some of the rioters that Thursday night and... uh... was told that they do not recognize you as a leader and they do not follow the demonstrations of the non-violent methods you using. Now, are there plans to reach these... do you plan to talk to them? [Dr. King] Uh...I hope I can talk to some of these groups. There's no doubt about the fact and no secret that they are Negroes in the United States who do not believe in non-violence. They made it clear in public statements and in other channels. My feeling is that the vast majority of Negroes in the United States believe in non-violence as a basic tactic for social change. I don't mean they believe in it as I do as a way of life or as a creed and I don't feel that they all feel that the love ethic must be the regulating ideal in this period of transition. But at least they believe in non-violence as the best strategy and from a pragmatic point of view they are willing to follow it. So I think those who talk against non-violence represent a very small minority in the Negro community, and I can assure you that those who rioted did not represent the thinking or the methods of the vast majority of the half-million Negroes in Los Angeles, California. [Reporter] Why didn't you come here sooner? [Dr. King] Uh...I didn't come sooner, first, because I had a long-standing commitment in San Juan, Puerto Rico which I did not want to cancel. Secondly, I didn't see any point in coming at the height of the riot because I don't think I could have done anything. I don't think any leader could have, as I said, a mob does not respond to reason. Irrationality becomes the order of the day at that point and I think at that time it was necessary uh... for police power to be used in order to restrain it. So I wanted to wait until the situation simmered down a bit so that we could get on with the job of healing and rebuilding the broken community. [Man next to Dr. King] Thank you gentlemen. Dr. King... [Reporters trying to ask questions] [Man next to Dr. King] has another engagement. Thank you very much.