Hero or Villain?

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It’s a day to celebrate one of the most important leaders of the Civil Rights movement. A day to honor the man who delivered one of the most memorable and impactful speeches in American history. A day to honor the man who dreamt of a world where people would be evaluated by the content of their character rather than the color of their skin. There is no doubt that MLK was one of the most important figures in American history.

However, MLK was not a flawless human being. Some reports claimed that MLK was a serial adulterer: he likely had extramarital affairs with multiple women¹. There was an FBI report that claimed that MLK may have been an accomplice in sexual assault, laughing while one of his friends assaulted another woman². Even if these particular claims are not 100% true, it is widely held that MLK had serious problems in his personal life.

Is this enough of a reason to cast away his message? Should we disregard his impact on the world because of his own character? This is a larger question that applies to every hero in history. How should we perceive those who did great things when there are clear deficiencies in their character? This is something I have struggled with for a long time. I had to question whether I should be looking up to my heroes. George Washington owned slaves. Heisenberg was a Nazi. Michael Phelps drove under the influence while on probation for the very same offense. What do we make of these people?

Let’s take a step back. There are heroes of the public: people who changed the world. People who saved lives. People who influenced entire generations. But, there are also heroes at the individual level. Even though you are likely not a celebrity, you make a difference in people’s lives. There is probably someone that looks up to you. You are evaluated to the same degree, just on a smaller scale. If we look at everyone in history, it’s clear that no one is perfect. If you dig deep enough you’ll find problems with everyone. We all make mistakes. We have all made terrible mistakes. After all, it’s part of the human condition.

Our heroes are the same. They are still people. It would be wonderful if every aspect of our heroes were ideal. But, that is never the case. Our heroes have just as many flaws. They just have some special traits that often outshine their flaws. But, the flaws are still there if you dig deep enough. In modern culture, all you have to do is scroll far enough back in a celebrity’s Twitter history. For you, one of your friends can simply pull up a message you sent 10 years ago. It’s not that difficult to find something you said that will bring the torch-carrying mob to your front porch. Evaluating people on solely on purity isn’t a feasible strategy. If you look hard enough, nobody should be admired. There would be no more heroes.

I offer you to view your heroes under the mantra: “We don’t look up to people for what made them the same. We look up to people for what made them different.” Let’s look at some of the heroes again through this lens. George Washington was the first President of the United States and played a key role in leading the Continental Army to victory in the American Revolutionary War, helping establish the United States as an independent nation. Werner Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle fundamentally changed the way we viewed the subatomic world. Michael Phelps is the greatest Olympic champion to have ever lived, winning more than double the number of gold medals than any other Olympian in history.

Of course, our heroes have flaws. But, that is not why they are important. We should look at what made them unique during their time. Of course, some will have had serious relationship problems. Of course, some were irresponsible. Of course, some went down the wrong path. But, to think that you or anyone else is absent of flaws is naive. We all have our issues. But, this isn’t to say that there is no balance. There are ways that made people uniquely evil. So evil that their deficiencies darken any good they may have introduced to the world. There are people who should be shamed. However, this balance is purely subjective, so there is obviously never going to be a consensus among all. But, when you see that someone is widely respected, you should take a moment to evaluate why people respect them despite their flaws.

One more strategy to evaluate our heroes is to detach the ideas from the person. Our heroes can have great ideas and terrible ideas. Their good ideas are still good, and their bad ideas are still bad. So when you inevitably disagree with a part of someone, you can still look at their great ideas. This applies to your heroes and your friends. After all, when is anyone right about everything? Even Einstein was wrong about quantum mechanics. MLK had socialistic tendencies that went against the message of his “I have a Dream” speech. To have a hero is to support their great ideas. But, only their great ideas. This strategy makes it so that you do not have to support all of someone. You do this all the time. You are still friends with your friends despite their problems. You take the good with the bad. When your friends say something you disagree with, you don’t have to support it. When Einstein tells you quantum mechanics is wrong, you don’t have to agree. When someone uses your hero’s statements against you, you don’t have to defend yourself for things you don’t believe in.

MLK day will not go away. People will levy complaints against his character, just as MLK wanted. But, at the end of the day, it seems that most respect his message more than they dislike his deficiencies. And maybe, that’s not such a bad thing.