Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
King was the target of many threats during his life, but this didn't stop him from carrying on his work. In April 1968 he was planning a campaign to focus attention on the poverty of black and white Americans. He took time out to visit Memphis, Tennessee, to lead a march in support of a strike of local dustmen. On 4 April he was shot dead on a motel balcony.
Despite appeals from the federal government and other civil rights leaders for calm, there were outbreaks of violence and unrest across America. There was a day of national mourning on 7
April. All flags flew at half-mast. There were processions and gatherings in stadiums and parks in New York, Newark, Houston, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and other cities in honour of Dr
King.
James Earl Ray was the main suspect in the murder. Ray escaped abroad and was stopped at
London's Heathrow Airport on 8 June. He pleaded guilty in March 1969 and was given a 99year prison sentence. He later proclaimed his innocence, saying he was a victim of a government cover-up, but the case was not reopened. Many conspiracy theories have come out since, suggesting that King was killed because of his opposition to the Vietnam War or that J.
Edgar Hoover, head of the FBI, wanted to dispose of King.
After the assassination, President Johnson declared: "Martin Luther King has been struck down by the violence against which he preached and worked. Yet the cause for which he struggled has not fallen". Did other people feel the same? What were their reactions to the murder? How did they sum up their feelings about Martin Luther King and his work for civil rights?
Examine these sources to find out more:
Robert Kennedy's announcement of the death of King
News report of the assassination, 5
April 1968
Reaction from world leaders, 6
April 1968
Letter to the United
Nations from the US government
President Johnson's statement on the death of King
Report on the atmosphere in New
York, 10 April 1968
Letter about James
Earl Ray, 18 July
1968
Men share their memories of Dr King http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
Robert Kennedy's announcement at a political rally of the death of King, 4 April 1968
(John F. Kennedy Presidential Library) http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
News of the death of King in The Daily Telegraph newspaper, 5 April 1968
(Telegraph Group Limited (1968), source from The British Library) http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
Reaction from world leaders to the death of King, reported in The Daily Telegraph newspaper, 6 April 1968
(Telegraph Group Limited (1968), source from The British Library) http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
Letter to U Thant, Secretary General of the United Nations, from the US government, 5 April 1968
(Catalogue ref: FCO 7/865) http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
Extract from President Johnson's statement on the death of Dr. King, 8 April 1968
(Catalogue ref: FCO 7/865) http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
Extracts from a British Embassy dispatch sent to London from Washington, 10 April
1968, reporting on the atmosphere in New York
(Catalogue ref: FCO 7/860) http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
Letter from a British official in St Louis to the British Embassy in Washington, 18 July
1968, on James Earl Ray
(Catalogue ref: FCO 7/865) http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
Men sharing their memories of Dr King
(H. Huntley and D. Montgomery, eds., 'Black Workers' Struggle for Equality in
Birmingham', Champaign, University of Illinois Press, 2004, p.109, p.198, a product of the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute's Oral History Project) http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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Learning Curve
HEROES &
King & civil rights > After his death
VILLAINS
http://www.learningcurve.gov.uk/heroesvillains/
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