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Martin Luther King Jr. was not a communist, but he was influenced by socialist and Marxist ideas. While he did not agree with all aspects of Marxism, he was deeply concerned about economic inequality and believed that the U.S. capitalist system perpetuated poverty and racial injustice[1][4].

King attended seminaries where he studied Marx's writings, and his close advisors included people with roots in the leftist milieu[1]. He spoke favorably of democratic socialism and envisioned a "Poor People's Campaign" to pursue an egalitarian agenda[1].

However, King dismissed Marxism's materialism and condemned the USSR[1]. He was also accused of being a communist by critics like FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, who tried to smear him and undermine his civil rights work[2][3]. But historians argue that while King refused to repudiate Marxism wholesale, he meshed his Christian faith with a radical vision of equality[1].

Sources [1] MLK Was an Exemplar of a Black Socialist Tradition - Jacobin https://jacobin.com/2023/04/martin-luther-king-jr-mlk-socialism-class-racial-justice-civil-rights-movement [2] Righteous Martin Luther King was slandered as a communist | News https://gazette.com/news/righteous-martin-luther-king-was-slandered-as-a-communist-david-ramsey/article_aeeb29ac-c3ad-11ea-956e-e7ccd4fb0784.html [3] Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) | The Martin Luther King, Jr ... https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/federal-bureau-investigation-fbi [4] A communist view: Let's reject falsehoods about Dr. Martin Luther King https://peoplesworld.org/article/a-communist-view-lets-reject-falsehoods-about-dr-martin-luther-king/ [5] [PDF] Martin Luther King, Jr. - National Archives https://www.archives.gov/files/research/jfk/releases/104-10125-10133.pdf