New evidence of Martin Luther King Jr.’s all-too-human frailties has raised more doubts about his character and work.
In one incident, staff working with the civil rights leader described how after a meal in a Selma, Alabama restaurant on December 6, 1964, King developed a severe bout of hiccups. “We were on the floor laughing,” said one of those who was there. “No matter what he tried to do -- drink water, hold his breath -- he just couldn’t stop hiccupping.” The incident left many questioning King’s leadership, the source said. “That’s just not the kind of behavior you expect from a saint.”
In another case, the civil rights leader got angry at having to wake and change the
diapers of one their infant children the night of June 3, 1961. “The baby started crying, Coretta woke up her husband, and apparently he started to complain,” said a family friend close to King’s wife. “‘Oh, it’s not my turn, I changed her last time,’ he kept saying.” King eventually did change the baby, the family friend acknowledged. “But still, it’s surprising, him with his own holiday and all,” she said.
These incidents are only part of an increasing volume of reports of King engaging in all sorts of activities at odds with his stature, from belching and burping after swallowing his food too quickly to acting grumpy until he had drunk his morning coffee and even to singing off-key in the shower. “Here you have a guy claiming he’s seen the Promised Land and he doesn’t even know how properly to chew his food,” said a former FBI agent who was part of a team tapping King’s telephone calls. “It really goes to show you that Hoover was right all along.”