Was Martin Luther King a Marxist?.

 
 
 
Kings Vision on University Education
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Martin Luther King Jr is widely known for his struggle against racial inequalities in the U.S.; however, King had a vision of equality of all races in all aspects of American life, such as education, housing, economic opportunities, and the war. King had to change his tactics as he progressed north because the northerners participated in covert segregation and inequality. The higher education opportunities in America are available to very few students from the lower class. 
Education, poverty, and race are intertwined in American society; these circumstances led the King to take an anti-capitalistic analysis of the United States. In his view, despite the affluence of the U.S., the nation was plagued by poverty, and this remains the situation in the 21st century. The country is still divided into classes, and the education system is at the center of class discrimination. A week before his assassination, King told a journalist that the struggle was no longer just against racial segregation but a class struggle (Fairclough, 1983).
King dreamed of a society where every American child would be accorded the best opportunities to maximize their potential in life. This has not been the case in the education system as students from rich high-income family’s access quality education from high-end colleges in the U.S., such as Howard. In contrast, students from low-income families are segregated to public schools offering low-quality education due to a lack of necessary resources. 
Even after the 1954 ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, racial segregation practices have existed in the education system, where the U.S. Supreme Court outlawed racial segregation in education institutions (Mattheis, 2020). Dion Pierre of the National Association of Scholars reports that these practices flourish rather than dying out. In his research on living and recreational facilities segregated by race, special commencement exercises for African-American students, and black student unions, Pierre states that universities are reintroducing racial segregation practices by making race the primary determinant to participate in some events, activities live in some living facilities.
Howard University is historically black; however, King’s vision was a society where members of the American community would be judged by their character rather than the color of their skin. The University is integrated and allows students from all races who fall in the right class; however, racial segregation still prevails through racial unions and racially targeted events. The Howard office of communication published an article on an event organized to enhance African Americans’ economic strength and financial wellness. Yet, the student community includes all races (Howard Newsroom, 2020). This amounts to a covert call for racial segregation, which goes against King’s vision of a colorless society. 
King was against capitalistic economic theories because they justified war, inequitable distribution of wealth, opportunities, and class segregation of the American society. He and other civil rights leaders risked their lives striving for a non-race determined society; therefore, Universities should live up to this vision. Schools should not separate students based on race because it beats the purpose of diversity which is to allow people to interact freely with others who are markedly different in terms of ethnicity or socioeconomic backgrounds. 
 
References
Fairclough, A. (1983, April). Was Martin Luther King a Marxist?. In History Workshop (pp. 117-125). Editorial Collective, History Workshop, Ruskin College.
Howard Newsroom. (2020, January 31). Howard University Event Focused on Solving Financial Challenges, Building Economic Strength of African American Community. https://newsroom.howard.edu/newsroom/article/11716/howard-university-event-focused-solving-financial-challenges-building-economic
Mattheis, A. (2020). Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas. In Encyclopedia of Critical Whiteness Studies in Education (pp. 81-88). Brill Sense.