Black History

How Cain sat out civil rights activism at Morehouse

9:36 AM on 10/10/2011

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Two Morehouse College students look out from the window of an university building to watch the funeral procession for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Atlanta, GA, April 1968. (Photo by Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images)

During his appearance on MSNBC's The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell last week, GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain and O'Donnell got into several heated exchanges. One of particular interest was Cain's inactivity during the Civil Rights Movement.

The exchange started when O'Donnell presented the following passage from Cain's book: "The Civil Rights movement was a few years in front of me. I was too young to participate when they first started the Freedom Rides and the sit-ins. So on a day-to-day basis, it didn't have an impact. I just kept going to school, doing what I was supposed to do, and stayed out of trouble -- I didn't go downtown and try to participate in the sit-ins...counter to our real feelings, we decided to avoid trouble by moving to the back of the bus when the driver told us to...Dad always said, 'Stay out of trouble,' and we did."

Has the Herman Cain backlash already begun?

Cain responded that he was a high school student and, therefore, was not free to act on his own. Yet Cain claimed, "If I had been a college student I probably would have been participating." When O'Donnell pointed out that Cain was actually a college student from 1963 to 1967 during some of the most well-known clashes, such as "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, which led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, took place.

WATCH THAT 'LAST WORD' SEGMENT HERE:

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In his book, Born to Rebel: An Autobiography, Mays wrote "I have often said that I came out of my mother's womb kicking against segregation and discrimination based on race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin" as well as "I plead guilty to the charge that I am a desegregationist." Mays, who led Morehouse from 1940 to 1967, even gave the benediction at the historic March on Washington.

Civil rights activities, as several who attended Morehouse during the same years as Cain attest, were part of the Morehouse character, especially during that era. Dr. Walter M. Burns, a Houston native who now leads the Christian Home Community Church just outside Atlanta, shared that "Some of Dr. King's people would come over and get some of us to march with them and, of course, as a freshman and a sophomore, I marched occasionally."

Burns, who knows Cain well, also added that "We had a chance to be around Dr. King." In fact, on Sundays, buses regularly carted Morehouse students to King's family church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he often preached, Burns pointed out.

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During his appearance on MSNBC's _The Last Word_ with Lawrence O'Donnell last week, GOP presidential hopeful Herman Cain and O'Donnell got into several heated exchanges. One of particular interest was "Cain's inactivity during the Civil Rights Movement":http://www.thegrio.com/politics/lawrence-odonnell-defends-interview-with-herman-cain.php. The exchange started when O'Donnell presented the following passage from Cain's book: "The Civil Rights movement was a few years in front of me. I was too young to participate when they first started the Freedom Rides and the sit-ins. So on a day-to-day basis, it didn't have an impact. I just kept going to school, doing what I was supposed to do, and stayed out of trouble -- I didn't go downtown and try to participate in the sit-ins...counter to our real feelings, we decided to avoid trouble by moving to the back of the bus when the driver told us to...Dad always said, 'Stay out of trouble,' and we did." Has the Herman Cain backlash already begun? Cain responded that he was a high school student and, therefore, was not free to act on his own. Yet Cain claimed, "If I had been a college student I probably would have been participating." When O'Donnell pointed out that Cain was actually a college student from 1963 to 1967 during some of the most well-known clashes, such as "Bloody Sunday" in Selma, which led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, took place. WATCH THAT 'LAST WORD' SEGMENT HERE:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

But Cain wasn't just a college student. He was a college student at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Dr. Martin Luther King's alma mater. Its legendary president Dr. Benjamin E. Mays was a mentor to Dr. King and was vehemently opposed to segregation. In his book, _Born to Rebel: An Autobiography_, Mays wrote "I have often said that I came out of my mother's womb kicking against segregation and discrimination based on race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin" as well as "I plead guilty to the charge that I am a desegregationist." Mays, who led Morehouse from 1940 to 1967, even gave the benediction at the historic March on Washington. Civil rights activities, as several who attended Morehouse during the same years as Cain attest, were part of the Morehouse character, especially during that era. Dr. Walter M. Burns, a Houston native who now leads the Christian Home Community Church just outside Atlanta, shared that "Some of Dr. King's people would come over and get some of us to march with them and, of course, as a freshman and a sophomore, I marched occasionally." Burns, who knows Cain well, also added that "We had a chance to be around Dr. King." In fact, on Sundays, buses regularly carted Morehouse students to King's family church, Ebenezer Baptist Church, where he often preached, Burns pointed out.