The Cosmopolitanism of Martin Luther King, Jr.

That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned; That until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained.
From a speech by Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie I before the U.N. General Assembly in 1963, which was later put to music by Bob Marley and the Wailers in the song “War” (1976)

The value of our shared reward will and must be measured by the joyful peace which will triumph, because the common humanity that bonds both black and white into one human race, will have said to each one of us that we shall all live like the children of paradise. Thus shall we live, because we will have created a society which recognises that all people are born equal, with each entitled in equal measure to life, liberty, prosperity, human rights and good governance. Such a society should never allow again that there should be prisoners of conscience nor that any person’s human right should be violated.
From Nelson Mandela’s Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in 1993

We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus, and non-believers.  We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth; and because we have tasted the bitter swill of civil war and segregation, and emerged from that dark chapter stronger and more united, we cannot help but believe that the old hatreds shall someday pass; that the lines of tribe shall soon dissolve; that as the world grows smaller, our common humanity shall reveal itself; and that America must play its role in ushering in a new era of peace.
From Barack Obama’s inaugural speech, January 21 2009


The word ‘cosmopolitan’, which derives from the Greek word kosmopolitês (‘citizen of the world’), has been used to describe a wide variety of views that share the idea that all human beings do (or at least can) belong to a single community, and that this community should be cultivated. Today cosmopolitanism has become fashionable as a moral and political philosophy. Scholars such as Seyla Benhabib, Kwame Anthony Appiah, Martha Nussbaum, Paul Gilroy and Kwame Gyekye have argued fervently for the need to move towards a cosmopolitan conception of the world and our place in it.

Martin Luther King, Jr., being the visionary that he was, urged us all to become cosmopolitans soon half a century ago up until his death in 1968. In the final chapter “World House” of what became his last book, Where Do We Go from Here?: Chaos or Community, King spelled out his vision.

The chapter was an elaboration of his Nobel Peace Prize lecture in 1964. Many of the same ideas are echoed in his “Beyond Vietnam”  speech, which he delivered at New York’s Riverside Church on April 4, 1967, exactly a year before his assassination on April 4 1968. King’s opposition to the Vietnam War is featured in episode 2 of a documentary, MLK: A Call to Conscience, which just premiered on PBS, March 31 2010.

  1. King writes that there have been two worldwide revolutions so far and that there’s a need for a third revolution. (a) Which are the first two revolutions? Describe them. (b) Which is the third one? Describe it and what its significance is.
  2. Describe Martin Luther King’s vision of our common humanity, what he thinks it means to cultivate it and why he thinks that it is crucial that we do.
  3. Which are the three evils that, according to King, need to be overcome in fulfilling this vision? Describe them and explain why they are the three evils for humanity to overcome.

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