As we approach the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., I thought it would be interesting to do some research about how many individuals reacted to his work. For instance, he is one of the most famous and well known civil rights activists in our nation’s history, but he was not always perceived as this. Actually, at the time of his death, King was a hated man and was a man on exile; only post death was King celebrated as a hero.
In 1966, when asked on their opinion of King, 63% of Americans had an unfavorable opinion on him. In that same year, 54% of whites said that they would not protest or march if “they were in the same position as Negros.” Two months after that poll, another poll was conducted in which 85% of whites said that civil rights demonstrations hurt Negros more than it helped. This could be due to the fact that King displayed what he thought openly, stating “History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.” As many whites continued in their silence, King continued with his strides forward.
Nowadays, King is seen as a hero for all he has accomplished and all his hard work. White America has transformed what we see him as. When discussing about events that have happened in recent years such as the Black Lives Movement, many individuals, including Whites, state “Is that what MLK would have wanted?”Martin Luther King is a very influential leader, activist, and martyr, but it took him a great deal of time to be seen as that by all of America. So, as we come up to this anniversary, please keep in mind how hard this man worked with the hatred of the country on his back, only to die an unfavored man. He will never know the recognition he received after he was shot and murdered.