In the evening hours of April 4, 1968 Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was struck down by an assassin’s bullet as he stood on a motel balcony in Memphis, TN.
LIFE Magazine has released a series of photographs made at the Lorraine Motel on the night of the shooting.
A plaque at the site of the assassination reads:
Rev. King’s life, and his work, brought dramatic, much needed changes to this country.
In less than a generation the US has moved away from water cannons and police dogs into an era where we can truly examine a person based on the content of their character rather than the color of their skin.
Every American, regardless of color or creed, owes a debt of gratitude to Rev. King because all of us benefited from his efforts.
I am too young to know what life was like prior to the civil rights movement. For me, and my children, that time period lives only in grainy photographs, black and white film clips, and museums.
My twelve year old recently asked me why Rev. King was so important. At first I was at a loss, not at the importance of Rev. King, but how to express it.
How do you explain hatred based on skin color to someone, a child, who has never seen, or considered, skin color as a factor?
In 2009 how do you explain ignorance and prejudice to a child? Believe me, it isn’t easy.
It’s a damn shame that what King stood for has been twisted and hijacked by the leftards for their own political purposes.
We need to call them out on that, break down the PC fence built around his shrine.
You could explain those things by taking your kid to Rev Wright’s ‘church’, where your child would be able to see race hatred first hand.
Many who didn’t live through segregation think it only affected blacks.
As a young white child growing up in the South, I was dragged away from many water fountains by my mother. I was thirsty, couldn’t yet read, and didn’t understand why I was being denied a simple drink of water, especially when I saw others drinking from the same facility. Skin color didn’t matter to me, I was just a thirsty kid.
Thank you, Dr. King, for reintroducing Christian values to America.
Martin Luther King, Jr. has been cannonized by those awed by his leadership in the Civil Rights Movement. Popular among neoconservatives is the myth that King would oppose racial preferences if he were alive today. Other irrefutable evidence surrounding Dr. King indicate that he was a womanizer; that most of his writings and speeches were plagiarized even for the purpose of attaining his doctorate; and that he often associated with known communists. You can read about it here:
http://herdgadfly.blogspot.com/2009/01/real-life-and-times-of-martin-luther.html
@gadfly:
Surprise! Another racist on a Republican website.
History is history even when read by liberals like you, Blackjack. I didn’t write it, I just reported it. My admiration for MLK back then is unchanged today. I lived those days, did you?
My point in the article is that King was not all that today’s mythology would have him be. The authors that I cited, Winchell and Garrow, were fans of the man!