Upon his arrival. King checked
into the Negro-owned Lorraine
Motel.
Across from the Lorraine was the
rooming house where the assassin
who called himself John Willard
(later identified as James Earl Ray),
paid for a room directly across
from King’s motel room. On April
4, 1968, King walked onto the
second floor balcony to talk with
CO-workers and enjoy the evening
air. At 7:02 p.m., a single shot
from the sniper’s rifle exploded
into King’s neck, severing his
spinal cord. Within an hour of the
shooting, King, 39, was pro
nounced dead at Sl Joseph’s
Hospital. His death was the 12th
major assassination in the civil
rights struggle since 1963.
A photograph showing King as
he was carried from the motel bal
cony was an inset to the article.
Another photogrjq)h accompany
ing the article, showing King talk
ing with co-worker Jesse Jackson,
was taken minutes before hisdeath.
One of King’s aides, Hosea
Williams, said that King told him
a few hours before he was killed
that “he had conquered the fear of
death.”TjW’scoverageof King’s
last speech gave use of excellent
quotes and remaikable foreshad
owing.
The night before his death. King
spoke to a crowd of thousands at
Mason Street Temple. King said
there had been death threats made
on his life, "but it really doesn’t
mattei with me now. Because I’ve
been to the mountaintop. And I’ve
looked over ... and I’ve seen the
promised land. I may not get there
with you, but I want you to know
that we as a people will get to the
promised land. I’m not worried
about anything. I’m not fearing
any man. Mine eyes have seen the
glory of the coming of the Lord."
King’s premonition was deadly
accurate.Twenty-four hours after
his final speech, Memphis’ gar
bage collectors still had unresolved
grievances and King’s staffers
vowed to continue King’s last
crusade. King’s successor. Rev.
Ralph Abernathy, led asilent, non
violent protest Monday, April 8,
the day before King’s funeral in
Atlanta.
It was fitting that King’s death
came during a mission in which he
tried to assist a group of people
seeking to improve some aspect of
their lives by securing their rights.
Twelve years earlier he had begun
his ascent in the civil rights move
ment, galvanizing the Black popu
lation of Montgomery during the
bus boycott
In the article "Visions of the
Promised Land,” Time did a spe
cial feature on King’s eloquent
rhetoric. It highlighted his desires
for nonviolence in “Letter From
Birmingham Jail” in 1%3, his
dreams of peace and freedom in
1964,hisviewsonBlack Power in
1967, and his feelings of his own
future in 1968. Some of King’s
most famous and moving state
ments were presented in this ar
ticle.
Time reported in its television
section that within hours after the
assassination, all major networks
had assembled well-balanced foot
age of King’s life from childhood
to his death.
“March On” headlined Time's
editorial page on April 19. John
Dane from Connecticut wrote,
“Whites feel not only horror, but
shame at the tragic death of Dr.
King. But there is a group that
should feel infinitely more shame,
and it is that minority of Black
militants and their followers. Their
actions are not only making sure
that Dr. King died in vain, but
making sure that his whole life
was in vain.” A pastor from Iowa
simply asked, “Why must we
always kill our prophets before we
listen to them?”
Now began the rites of martyr
dom, the eulogies, memorials, riots
and tears. Now began unprece
dented tributes and the postpone
ment of the baseball season and
the Academy Awards. Now began
King’s promise of new life.
By the end of the week. King’s
assassination and the tragic conse
quences it provoked all but ob
scured the earlier developments
toward peace in Vietnam.
Throughout the nation, flags flew
at half-staff in honor of the mar
tyred leader and dignitaries from
all ovCT the country began trick
ling into Atlanta for his funeral.
Time staled that not since the
funeral of John F. Kennedy four
and a half years earlier had the
nation been so deeply involved in
mourning. In Adanta, there were
200,000 black and white mourn
ers at the memorial services. An
estimated 120 million viewers
watched the funeral on television
which lasted more than three hours
twice as long as President Ken
nedy’s. It was King’s last march.
The televised services were the
first opportunity for millions of
white Americans to observe the
spirit of black Americans’ Chris
tian faith.
Celebrities and “little people’
alike attended memorial services
at King’s alma mater, Morehouse
College, and the funeral at Eben
ezer Baptist Church, where King
was the pastor. King’s own taped
voice rose from an empty pulpit as
spirituals were sung by a tearful
choir. King’s successor, Rev
Abernathy, led in the eulogies.
Near the end of the funeral, a tape
of a sermon King had given that
February was played.
“If any of you are around when
I have to meet my day, I don’t
want a long funeral, and if you get
somebody to deliver the eulogy
tell him... to mention that day that
Martin Luther King Jr. Cried to
give his life serving others. I’d like
for somebody to say that day that
Martin Luther King Jr. tried to
love somebody.”
Time's April 19 issue also fea
tured four pages of emotional pho
tographs. The photographs in
cluded marchers walking behind
King’s casket, carried by a mule-
drawn wagon, services in Eben-
ezer Baptist Church and shots of
the slain leader’s widow, Coretta,
maintaining complete composure.
The magazine did a profile on
groes saw rioting as an opportu
nity to force white store owners
out of the ghetto. One looter said,
“His death just gave us an ex
cuse.”
But the outbreak of violence
made a mockery of everything that
King’s life, and death, had stood
for.
Time reported that throughout
the U.S. there were 5,117 fires,
1,928 homes and stores ransacked,
23,987 people arrested and
$39,544,205 in damage to prop
erty. In all, 72,800 federal troops
were called to duty.
Much of the riot activities went
unopposed and rarely did police
and federal troops interfere. The
restraint may have resulted in part
from the president’s Kemer Com
mission report and the sense of
guilt whites feltover King’s death.
Cover Story
Coretta Scott King titled “You’re
Such a Brave Lady...” Time re
ported that Mrs. King had por
trayed the images of contained
grief and total self-conut)l all
throughout the services. “The
movement had lost a leader and
found in his widow a new source
of strength.”
The end of King’s life put Presi
dent Johnson at center stage of the
political arena once more. After
meeting with black leaders at the
While House, Johnson went on
television to condemn domestic
racial violence and issue a fresh
call for unity.
On the day King was buried,
with federal troops still standing
guard on the Capitol steps, Johnson
signed the Civil Rights Act of 1968.
The law contained two anti-riot
clauses and language protecting
the constitutional rights for Native
Americans. But like previous civil
rights laws, the Act of 1968 had
the danger of promising loo much
while providing too little. NAACP
officials said, “The bill does noth
ing directly to conquer prejudice
or poverty.” Although the bill cov
ered 80 percent of America’s
housing market, it would not help
Negroes’ economic problems un-
tU 1970.
For loo many blacks. King’s
death could only be viewed as a
judgment on his nonviolent phi
losophy and a purpose for retali
ation. Black militants used his mur
der to say that the civil rights
movement was dead. But they had
said it long before his death. Ne
Whatever the reason, 43 deaths
occurred as a result of rioting.
On April 26, Time provided
more coverage on King’s assassin
than any other topic concerning
King’s death. The three-page ar
ticle, “Who Killed King,” was an
in-depth story about James Earl
Ray, the suspected killer. Time
stated that the world had hardly
known of King’s death before
speculation began that he was a
victim of a well-planned conspir
acy.
Time also announced that the
Memphis garbage workers had
agreed upon a 14-month settle
ment with city officials that in
cluded a grievance procedure, a
system of merit promotions and a
9 percent pay increase.
“Challenging Pharaoh,” was the
slogan of the Poor People’s Cam
paign, King’s last crusade for civil
rights. Time reported on May 17
that 12,000 marchers from the
nation’s slums and ghettos met in
Washington, D.C. to erect a settle
ment called “Resurrection City.”
March coordinator Hosea Wil
liams said, “These while folks
killed the dream, but we’re gonna
show these white folks what be
came of the dream.”
A Time Essay, “What Can I
Do?”, focused on what whites
could do to help black America in
its fight for civil rights. “If the
country’s race problem is curable,
the cure is going to be found in a
see "Time Coverage," p. 12
Black Ink January 28, 1991