Martin Luther King Jr. pushed for universal basic income as part of economic justice.

Martin Luther King Jr. advocated a guaranteed annual income as a means of addressing economic inequality, and recent research finds strong support for universal basic income among lower-income white Americans while opposition is higher among wealthier whites with elevated racial resentment.

Martin Luther King Jr. argued in the 1960s that racial equality required economic remedies, including a guaranteed annual income. He framed a guaranteed income as a way to address poverty affecting Black Americans and other poor people as automation and structural change threatened jobs. Interest in universal basic income has returned amid affordability pressures and concerns about job disruption from automation and artificial intelligence. Political scientists have studied public opinion on these proposals and reported findings on how race and income shape attitudes. Key findings: - King publicly called for a guaranteed annual income and connected it to the wider aims of the Civil Rights Movement. - In recent years, more than a dozen U.S. cities have run pilot programs or local experiments related to universal basic income. - One study cited found that majorities of white Americans supported a universal basic income proposal in two of three surveys, with especially strong support among lower-income white respondents. - Higher-income white respondents who score higher on measures of racial resentment were more likely to oppose universal basic income, while lower-income whites with similar resentments showed greater support, indicating economic self-interest can influence views. Summary: The article links King’s call for a guaranteed income to today’s debates about affordability and automation, noting that economic need can bridge some racial divides in support for social welfare policies. It also notes that racial resentment among some higher-income white Americans remains a barrier to broader support. Undetermined at this time.