BAYARD RUSTIN, THE

MAN HELD IN THE

SHADOW

Martin Luther King Jr., was one of the most tremendous figure of the civil Rights
Movement, a fervent defender of equality and a peaceful figure. He is mostly famous for his I
have a dream speech delivered on August 28th, 1963 to over 250,000 civil rights supporters
from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial during the March on Washington. King became a
symbol and representation of African-American pride, culture and determination. Until this
day, Martin Luther King is praised and acclaimed during Martin Luther Kings Day
celebrating his actions every third Monday of January, and still have an influence on todays
politic1. Doctor King was referred to as Gandhian non-violent2 and was seen as the
embodiment of peace. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., Each in his own time
and place, altered the course of society through actions of militant non-violent resistance in
behalf of marginalized groups3. But what people may not know about Doctor King, is that he
was not always the preacher of pacifism that we all know. He was helped, taught, shaped and
guided by a man who will become the invisible guiding hand he needed during his career, a
man who made him evolve and change radically his view on how to make people understand
and agree with his points of view in a non-harmful way.

A majority of people know who Martin Luther King Jr., is, but who is Bayard Rustin?
If we ask people about Rustin, they probably would not know who he was despite the fact that
he played an important role in the Civil Rights Movement recognition. Rustin can be seen as
1 Martin Luther King speech inspired millions of Americans to fight for more
equal society and rights that people now take for granted. President Barrack
Obama,
2 the world turned: essay on Gay history, Politics and culture page 32 line 3.
3 Spiritual transformation and nonviolence actions: interpreting Mahatma Gandhi
and Martin Luther King Jr. page 3 line 1 to 6.
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the movement invisible man. He was the mind behind most of the Civil Rights Movement
pacifists actions, the one who taught doctor King that non-violence motions were more likely
to have an impact on people that the use of arms and propaganda. Indeed, at the beginning of
the Montgomery boycott, Doctor Kings bodyguards were using guns, and doctor King
himself owned a few.

One of Rustins biggest achievement was the elaboration, preparation and organization
of the Civil Rights Movement momentous 1963 March on Washington for jobs and freedom.
He was one of the master strategists and theorists behind doctor kings campaign, he launched
and assessed his international reputation that day. It was a huge success and featured everyone
from Rustin and Randolph to John Lewis and introduced performances from Mahalia Jackson,
Marian Anderson, and Bob Dylan. According to John DEmilio, for Rustin, the march was
the event that legitimated nonviolent protest. The march was very influential in the passage
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the two landmark pieces of
Civil Rights legislation that brought the fall of Jim Crow and legislative discrimination.
Rustin was seen as a tireless organizer and agitator Rustin defined the black protest agenda
to an extent that few activists had done before him would do even after his death in 19874.
Knowing all that, we can ask ourselves few questions. Why one of the most gifted
organizer of the pacifist actions of his times did not rise at the same level of acknowledgment
and power as the people he helped and worked with? Why did Bayard Rustin remained in the
background? How did his actions left a print and helped shaping the Civil Rights Movement
to its apogee?

4 Time on two crosses pages 11-12 line 16-19

2

Bayard Rustin was born on March 17, 1912 in Pennsylvania and died on August 24,
1987 in New York. Rustin was one of the most important leaders and strategists of the Civil
Rights Movement. He always tried to tame, transform and destroy every bit of violent aspects
he encountered a bird doesnt sing because it has an answer, its sings because it has a song 5.
Those principle came from his Quaker legacy6 left by his grandparents who raised him (his
grandmother was a local member of the NAACP). The Quaker state of mind declared that
every individual had an inner-light. He believed in human rights based on equality of all
human beings, social justice, peace and freedom. He stressed community life and has faith of
leading his people to a land of milk and honey7.

Though the years, starting from an early age, he felt the need to fight injustice. In
1947, he led the journey of reconciliation aiming to stop national segregation in buses. He
became part of several associations as well as King such as CORE and FOR (Congress Of
Radical Equality and the Fellowship Of Reconciliation), who are international peace and
justice organisations that he helped developing, he was an incubator and played important
role. From initiating Freedom rides in 1947 to actions of the Civil Rights movement during
the Classical Phase (1954-1965) of the movement. Rustin was also crucial in bringing the
philosophy of nonviolence and the use nonviolent civil disobedience for protesting

5 The very best of Maya Angelou: the voice of inspiration

6 The social teachings of Jesus are 1/ respect for personality. 2/service the
summum bonum the highest good, the end that human beings ought to
pursue. 3/overcoming evil with good. 4/the brotherhood of man Bayard Rustin
speak truth to power: a Quaker search for an alternative to violence Bayard
Rustin 1955.
7 I must resist page 16
3

segregation and fighting discrimination. After the victory of the passage of the Civil Rights
Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, He focused on transforming the Civil Rights
Movement from a protest movement into a political movement while he also committed
himself to fighting poverty and unemployment in African-American communities. In his later
years, he became a vocal advocate for Human Rights worldwide and undertook several
humanitarian missions to assist refugees from Communist nations. Despite Rustins crucial
importance to the Civil Rights movement and his dedicating to fighting discrimination, his
status and legacy as a hero deserving to stand alongside the likes of Martin Luther King Jr.,
Malcolm X, Medgar Evers, or John Lewis was side-lined within the religious and socially
conservative movement because of several causes.

The main reason why Rustin was put aside was that, yes he was a political genius, but
also openly gay. At the time, being black was already hard, adding to the fact that being gay
was seen as unacceptable, it was seen as perversion and twisted-ness. Thus, Rustin had to be
kept away from the spotlight. All means were necessary to prevent offenses he could do to the
work that already have been done inside the movement. Because of this, Rustin was forced to
remain in the shadows of the trenches of the movement where he could not bring attention to
himself and draw additional scrutiny from the opponents of Civil Rights while also dealing
with the hostility he faced within the movement from his fellow Civil Rights leaders. As
Martin Luther King Jr.s special assistant in the SCLC, he was forced to resign after Rep.
Adam Clayton Powell (D-NY) threatened to make allegations of a sexual relationship
between Rustin and King as a means of removing Rustin from the SCLC after disagreements
over demonstrations. Dr. King was also affected by the vulnerability of having Rustin so
close, and faced several tough decisions over it and his own views of homosexuality that at
least extended to King offering tepid support to him.
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Even though everything was done to retain Rustin as far away as possible from the
press and all the fuss that this situation could create, some incident occurred. Rustin was
known for his disobedient behaviour, he was arrested at several occasions (Ive been in
prison 23 times, serving 28 months in a federal penitentiary and 30 days in North Carolina
chain gang among other punishments8) including one time for practising sexual acts in a car
in a public area, leading him to be sentenced to sixty days of imprisonment in Pasadena.

Another problem added to his homosexuality was the fact that during the period of
time between 1938 and 1941, Rustin was part of a communist group YLC (Young Communist
League), the youth branch of the Communist Party USA .owing to the fact that the
Communists were just about the only political party in the 1930s to be fully opposed to
segregation. "Living in Harlem, he saw that whenever blacks got into trouble, it was
invariably the Communists who were willing to defend them," his biographer, John D'Emilio,
writes. "Other radical groups, like the Socialist Party or assorted Trotskyist organizations,
promised gains only after the revolution." His ties to the party would get him investigated by
the FBI once he became a well-known leader of the civil rights movement. He quit the party
in June 1941, after the Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union led the U.S. party to switch gears
into building American opposition to fascism, and racial justice issues fell by the wayside.

8 Lost prophet: the life and times of Bayard Rustin

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We can also state that he had been put aside of the civil rights history because he never
was a prominent leader in any major venues of Civil Rights Movement. Even when people
were talking about him, his name was rarely mentioned. A. Phillip Randolph use to call him
Mr March of Washington9. When Rustin was not put aside to avoid scandals, he was simply
straightforwardly ignored Bayard Rustin is the man homophobia almost erased from
history10.

Nevertheless, Rustin was maybe invisible, but still perceptible. He wanted to be

accepted for who he was since he believed in the human family, that is to say that we are all
individuals that should be celebrate our brother and sisterhood no matter the racial or social
background. One has to fight for all. If I dont fight bigotry wherever it is, bigotry is thereby
strengthened and to the degree that it is strengthened, it will thereby have the power to turn
me. He accepted who he was and became a new Negro DEFINITION, fearless and selfaware God knows, people stay in the closet because its very painful to come out. But we
cannot play the political role we could play, because we dont have the numbers11.
Even from the shadows he was in, he still took part in many direct actions such as rallies,
marches, sit-ins, strikes or boycotts. Between the 1960s and the 1970s, Rustin played a
significant role in making direct actions widespread and mainstream when an individual is

9 Time on two crosses page 20.

10 A personal, political history of the afro. Steven Trasher, august 28 th 2013, the
buzzfeed journal.
11 Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer questioning and allied resource
office University of Illinois Springfield/ Bayard Rustin article.
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protesting societys refusal to acknowledge his dignity as a human being, his very act of
protest confers dignity to him12.

Bayard Rustin was needed by the movement in order to prosper, but at the same time,
he was a source of shame creating a catch 22 situation. To calm the situation and disguise the
controversy, King hired Ella Baker to work with Rustin on the crusade for citizenship, a south
wide registration campaign DATE a barrier of bigotry was built around his sexuality 13. He
was clearly discarded and held captive in his own party. The I have a dream speech was
stressing acceptance and togetherness when at the same time, one of Kings key associate was
not treated fairly which can be seen as a form of betrayal by his own political family.

Rustin was truly the key outstanding coordinator when people were focusing on the
glowing figure that was doctor King he was the brilliant organizer when millions of
Americans directed their attention on the prophetic Martin Luther King 14. Rustin wrote a lot
of memoranda to doctor King that later inspired him for his speeches. On December 13 th
1956, Rustin provided an analysis of the Montgomery bus boycott movement which helped
King writing his speech for the SCLC (Southern Christian Leadership conference) it served
as Kings institutional base of launching numerous civil rights campaigns between 1957 and
196815. The truth stood that he was gay but also more than that. He was a fearless defender of

12 Speak truth to power: a Quaker search for an alternative to violence. Bayard

Rustin, 1955.
13 I must resist: Bayard Rustins life in letters page 13.
14 I must resist: Bayard Rustins life in letters page 14.
15 I must resist: Bayard Rustins life in letters page 10.
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racial equality, a skilled practitioner, a teacher, an international spokesperson against nuclear

weapon, a promoter of African-American decolonization and many more.

All those elements give us an idea of why Bayard Rustin never had the same status as
Martin Luther King Jr., even if without Rustins help, King would probably not be as known
as he is now. Even though doctor King was known for having several affairs, his wrong
doings never had the same impact that those of Rustin. So why did those files never leaked
out? Bayard Rustin did his job and accomplished his mission so well, that he made a social,
political prodigious orator out of Martin Luther King. Because he was held so high, King was
seen as an untouchable political and social figure that would not and wont be crushed down.
He was too appreciated, symbolic and known to be attacked on his sexuality. Those are the
reasons why King was such an eloquent figure in African-American fight for equal rights and
Rustin was left aside. While a whole community stood together to fight unfairness and erase
differences made between people, the same man who made most of those actions possible was
rejected by those same defenders of equality. He fought against racism but was defeated by
another form of it, homophobia.

In November 2013, President Barack Obama named Bayard Rustin as a posthumously

recipient of the Medal of Freedom that Rustin partner received on his behalf just after the
celebration of the 50th anniversary of the speech delivery. This situation show that the Black
community wants Bayard Rustin to gain his status back, pushing him aside was a mistake.
They want to know who he was, to do so, more and more biographies and collections or his
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writings are published in order for his legacy to be passed on. The goal is to put his actions
where they belonged, in history books next to the leaders of his time. Rustins legacy is
reflected in historical moments like Jesse Jacksons declaration of the Rainbow Coalition in
1984 and more recently to President Barack Obama becoming the first sitting President to
support marriage equality in 2012. Bayard Rustins legacy is alive and strong, even though it
may still be in the shadow. As the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans-sexual)
movement has grown over the years and more and more Americans come to the realization
that all people should be treated equally, Rustins legacy deserves stronger recognition for the
future of human equality that he saw and fought all his life for. In his 1986 speech entitled
the New N----rs are Gays, Bayard Rustin describes that Gays are now the new barometer of
social change. He explains that no politician would dare say something about African
Americans that they would be more than willing to say about Gay people (Well at least until
the Tea Party came along). He explains that the Gay Rights are now the litmus test that will
judge our democracy. He was an important piece of the puzzle that needs to be completed
now Bayard Rustin was an unyielding activist for civil rights, dignity, and equality for all. As
an openly gay African-American, Mr. Rustin stood at the intersection of several of the fights
for equal rights16.
16 Jay Carney, the white house office of the press secretary, August 8th 2013.
www.thewhitehouse.org

BIBLIOGRAPHY
Books
Hefner, Phillip Spiritual Transformation and Nonviolent Action: Interpreting Mahatma
Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. Lutheran School of Theology and Mission. Gale 2004.

John DEmilio Lost Prophet: the Life and Times of Bayard Rustin. Simon and Schuster,
2003.

John DEmilio The World Turned: Essay on Gay History, Politics and Culture. Duke
University press, 2002.

Long. G. Michael I must Resist. City Lights Books, 2013.

Perlstein Daniel The Dead end of Despair: Bayard Rustin, the 1968 New York School
Crisis, and the Struggle for Racial Justice (essay). 2007, July. Vol 3. Gale.

Rummel, Jack African- American social Leader and Activists. InfoBase Publishing, 2003.

Rustin Bayard edited by Devon W. Carbado, Donald Weise Time on Two Crosses: The
collected writings of Bayard Rustin. Leiss press, 2003.

Websites
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www.thewhitehouse.org

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http://www.democracynow.org/2013/8/12/black_gay_and_a_pacifist_bayard

Articles
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/08/28/meet-the-gay-socialistpacifist-who-planned-the-1963-march-on-washington/

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/23/bayard-rustin-march-on-washington

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