MLK Jr. On Academic Freedom
“Professors were not caught up in the clutches of state funds and could teach what they wanted with academic freedom.”
The opening paragraphs of the second chapter of The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
At the age of fifteen, I entered Morehouse College. My father and my maternal grandfather had also attended, so Morehouse has had three generations of Kings.
I shall never forget the hardships that I had upon entering college, for though I had been one of the top students in high school, I was still reading at only an eighth-grade level. I went to college from the eleventh grade. I never went to the twelfth grade, and skipped another grade earlier, so I was a pretty young fellow at Morehouse.
My days in college were very exciting ones. There was a free atmosphere at Morehouse, and it was there I had my first frank discussion on race. The professors were not caught up in the clutches of state funds and could teach what they wanted with academic freedom. They encouraged us in a positive quest for a solution to racial ills. I realized that nobody there was afraid. Important people came in to discuss the race problem rationally with us.
How can we get back to the free and open discourse that Martin Luther King, Jr. experienced at Morehouse College in 1944? Let’s read that last paragraph one more time.
My days in college were very exciting ones. There was a free atmosphere at Morehouse, and it was there I had my first frank discussion on race. The professors were not caught up in the clutches of state funds and could teach what they wanted with academic freedom. They encouraged us in a positive quest for a solution to racial ills. I realized that nobody there was afraid. Important people came in to discuss the race problem rationally with us.
Compare this college experience to the high rates of censorship and self-censorship that we see on college campuses today.
Government funding is highly corrupting of eduction and has lead to many problems.
But I wonder - do we have the will and the humility to accept this truth? And do we have the will, the conviction and the leadership to fix the root cause of these problems?
As a first step in a positive direction let’s get some introspection about our tribal impulses.
Please consider exploring and reading the links and book recommendations within this post. I plan to expand upon these ideas soon, but for now here is a preview of where I’m headed.
As I am not one for partial or patchwork solutions—I want to get at the root of our problems—I believe the answer is toward the First Amendment.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
I suggest that we come to understand how identity, religion and education relate in the context of the First Amendment. I am grateful for this First Amendment, but I am disconcerted that it is not well understood. We should talk about the First Amendment in relation to education. Consider the following question.
What are the similarities and differences between education and religion in the context of the First Amendment?
Let’s talk about that next time.
And if you like this post please consider sharing, commenting or subscribing.
Please also consider reading Peter Gray’s two most recent Substack posts, “Great Amateurs in Science” and “In Praise of Amateurism,” which share similar themes to those I wish to explore in upcoming posts.
(MLK’s autobiography had been sitting on my shelf for a number of months prior to this post, but this piece by John R. Wood Jr. gave me the added inspiration to read the first chapter of his autobiography. Pointer to that piece is owed to one of Arnold Kling’s many thought provoking and well-curated Links to Consider.)