Was King admired by officials in the U.S.S.R. or were his non-violent protests considered a threat? Was he actually actively courted by their agents or representatives? I know King was suspected of being a communist (in part because he had socialists in his social circle) so did any foreign powers reinforce these beliefs intentionally or otherwise?
Thank you for your time.
Ah yes, the Civil Rights Movement and the Cold War: two of my favourite parts of history.
The USSR had an absolute field day with the Civil Rights Movement. This poster has the caption "Freedom, American-Style". As you can see, the top-right image shows the KKK hanging a black man. Overall, the Soviet Union loved the fact the Civil Rights Movement was happening in the United States as it made for excellent propaganda. This idea is further supported by this letter sent to the US Secretary of State in 1963. As you can see here, the Soviets used the oppression of African-Americans as anti-capitalist (and therfore anti-Western) propaganda by saying that "racism can only be eradicated along with capitalism itself." Overall, this propaganda ties in nicely with the Soviet Union's narrative that Western citizens were not the enemy as they were simply being oppressed by the Western elites. Unfortunately, this is the best source I can find to support this at the moment. However, my lecturer did show us numerous posters supporting this but it's late where I am so I'll have to search for something better tomorrow.
What does all this have to with the Soviet Union's perception of Martin Luther King, you ask? Well, simply put, the existence of the Civil Rights Movement benefitted the Soviet Union as it was a very public example of "what was wrong with the United States." This is very important as it was for this reason that the KGB decided to fund Civil Rights Groups.
However, once King started to link the aim of the Civil Rights Movement they started a smear campaign against him. They started getting articles published in African-American newspapers about him that portrayed him as an "Uncle Tom" and as someone who was selling out African-Americans.
In conclusion, at the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement, the Soviet Leadership jumped on the opportunity to use King and the Civil Rights Movement as tools used to show the wrong doings and evilness of the "imperialist" United States. However, once it became clear that King was not the left-wing radical that they had seen him as (and in fact was a supporter of the "American dream") they attempted to smear his image.
Sources:
http://spartacus-educational.com/spartacus-blogURL41.html
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 56
Other books on Google Books that I can't access due to them not having preview.
My lectures from a Doctor of History who specializes in the Cold War (and is a former Captain of the Red Army).
