ATLANTA _ Andrew Young spent hundreds of nights with Martin Luther King Jr. traveling and living out of hotel rooms when he started working with him in 1961 until the night King died on April 4, 1968.
Never, Young said, did he see, hear or witness the salacious accounts that historian David J. Garrow published in an explosive May 30 essay based on FBI documents detailing King's alleged sexual activities, including allegedly witnessing a rape.
"The man has been dead for 50 years. I don't know why anybody would write a story like this," said Young, a former Atlanta mayor and U.S. ambassador to the United Nations. "I have been hearing these rumors, even when Martin was alive, but I never saw anything, and I have never found anybody who said they saw something personally, or they heard something personally."
Young isn't alone in dismissing the allegations, particularly that King witnessed a rape. African Americans who only know King from books and images also say they don't believe the allegations. The son of the preacher accused of committing the rape while King was in the room also disputes the account.
Many question the credibility of the FBI, which had a well-documented history in the 1960s of harassing and trying to bring down civil rights leaders, King more than others. Although Garrow has a decades-long reputation as a meticulous researcher, some historians also question his decision to publish unsubstantiated allegations.
Outside the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, where King preached on Sundays even as he led the civil rights movement, several people said they didn't believe the allegations. Most of them had just finished touring the interior of the church where recordings of King's sermons played over loudspeakers in the sanctuary.
Marissa Hill, 32, of Grayson, had been wiping away tears after hearing King's words inside the church. Outside, after being told of the FBI summaries by an Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter, her mood changed.
"I need proof. I need evidence. I don't buy it," said Hill. "It sounds like interpretations of interpretations of what actually happened. How much research have they done into this to know that it's not just an accusation with no merit whatsoever?"
King is a revered figure, not just in the United States but around the world. There are streets and schools named after him. Many African-American homes and churches contained his photograph during the 1960s and 1970s. A statue of King is on display in Washington, D.C. And there is a national holiday named in his honor.
Donna Murch, a history professor at Rutgers University, said there is a long history dating back to Reconstruction of powerful interests trying to destroy black leaders by accusing them of sexual deviance and rape. She also questioned those who say it represents a #MeToo moment for King's legacy.
"Given that unsubstantiated FBI documents are being used rather than claims of actual people, this claim is highly suspect," Murch said. "The more obvious context for Garrow's claim is the long history of the sexualization of black politics and leaders as a way to invalidate legitimate political claims."
