50 Years ago — September 6, 1965
Applause is almost foreign to the Montreat auditorium … but the King appearance produced a standing, applauding welcome of some duration … . The 250 in the Christian Action Conference which sponsored the talk grew to more than 2,000 to hear the noted Atlanta minister who has won the Nobel Peace Prize for his leadership in the civil rights movement. Some people, of course, sat on their hands before and afterwards, but they became the conspicuous ones and some of them held back, or were held back by, companions who were reluctant to share in the enthusiasm of the hour. The occasion was heightened by a few ill tempered threats, some letters to the Montreat management and the sponsoring agency, plus the distribution of handbills in Montreat by outsiders attacking the integrity of Dr. King … .
Dr. King said the racist is saying the Negro is not worthy to live — that God made a creative error. “All men must learn to live together as brothers, he said, or we will all perish as fools.”
“[The law] cannot integrate, but it can desegregate. Law cannot change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless; it cannot make people love me but it can keep them from lynching me.”
From the lead news article “Martin Luther King at Montreat” by Aubrey Brown.
