Bayard Rustin Character Analysis

Bayard Rustin was an influential civil rights activist who worked alongside Philip Randolph. He grew up in West Chester, Pennsylvania, but eventually moved to New York where people would be more accepting of his homosexuality. He was a pacifist and a non-violent protestor, believing that these methods would not only help him fight injustice, but would also help him combat his own inner weaknesses. He fought racial injustice in daily, non-violent ways, such as sitting in the white sections of city buses. Instead of letting himself be drafted, he decided to go to jail, where he revealed his intense sexuality and lack of self-control. He was often angry, reckless, and arrogant. On many occasions, he sexually pursued other inmates in a relentless craze. From outside the prison, the leaders of Rustin’s civil rights groups were disappointed in him, saying his conduct destroyed the sacredness of true love and justice. Rustin tried to fix this destructiveness in himself by beginning a long-term relationship, but this failed, and he was sent to jail again for a public sex act. After his second release, he participated in the civil rights movement from the background. He was influential to Martin Luther King, Jr., helping him write many of his speeches. He also convinced Randolph to renew his plan for a march on Washington and then organized the march for him. Rustin’s struggle against his personal vices made the philosophy of non-violence extremely important to him: he used it as a means to discipline himself. Ultimately, he attained a measure of personal peace and committed to a relationship with one man.