Results: 50 Years Ago April 4, The Day Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Was Killed #MLK50
Published on 04/04/2018
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1.
1.
50 years after the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated, on April 4, 1968, the many ways in which the civil rights leader's push for people to reach what he called the "mountaintop" — a final plateau of racial and economic harmony — continues to be a struggle. Racial discord is still an issue. White supremacists are boldly and more frequently espousing their racist views in the aftermath of President Trump taking office. And a string of police shootings of unarmed black men and women — including the controversial shooting death of Stephon Clark last month in Sacramento — continues to exacerbate an uneasy relationship between law enforcement and the African-American community. Do you feel racial tension is getting worse or better in the U.S. and Canada?
Better for the most part
20%
428 votes
Worse for the most part
42%
895 votes
The same
31%
674 votes
Don't feel there is any racial tension at all
7%
155 votes
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On Wednesday, it will be 50 years since Rev. King was shot, as he stood on his balcony at Memphis' Lorraine Motel — a dark moment in American history that triggered riots and violence in more than 100 U.S. cities. But it is the speech Rev. KIng gave on the eve of his assassination that many remember more than the violent aftermath. "I've Been to the Mountaintop" is the popular name of that last speech. Here are just a few of the lines from that speech. How many do you think still resonate in today's culture?
Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for rights. And so just as I said, we aren't going to let dogs or water hoses turn us around. We aren't going to let any injunction turn us around. We are going on
17%
365 votes
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn't matter with me now, because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live - a long life; longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. 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 tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. So I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.
15%
331 votes
Go out and tell your neighbors not to buy Coca-Cola in Memphis. Go by and tell them not to buy Sealtest milk. Tell them not to buy - what is the other bread? Wonder Bread. And what is the other bread company, Jesse? Tell them not to buy Hart's bread. As Jesse Jackson has said, up to now, only the garbage men have been feeling pain; now we must kind of redistribute the pain.
8%
182 votes
Something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee -- the cry is always the same: "We want to be free."
15%
322 votes
Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence. That is where we are today.
14%
293 votes
The question is not, "If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?" The question is, "If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?" That's the question.
12%
268 votes
All of them do
25%
547 votes
None of them do
41%
880 votes
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The Rev. King was an interesting and passionate man, who was cut down violently way before his time. How many of these facts about him did you know?
After skipping grades nine and twelve, King enrolled at the age of 15, at the prestigious Morehouse College, the alma mater of his father and maternal grandfather, in 1944. He graduated at 19 years old, solidifying his Black excellence at a very young age.
8%
162 votes
He didn't want to be a minister at first. After initially considering being a lawyer or doctor, King was ordained before graduating Morehouse with a degree in sociology.
9%
204 votes
Racism was so rampant back in the day that even something as romantic as a having a decent honeymoon couldn't be celebrated the same by Black people. Upon marrying his wife, Coretta Scott King in 1953, the couple had to settle for having it at a friend's funeral parlor.
11%
238 votes
King was such a "Trekkie" of the original 1960s show that Star Trek was the only television program he allowed his children to stay up for.
5%
106 votes
King was jailed 29 times throughout his life, mostly acts of civil disobedience to trumped-up charges–such as when he was jailed in Montgomery for driving 30 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone
12%
268 votes
Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover was so obsessed with King that he bugged his home and offices while trying to tie his activism to Communism, which was later discredited
14%
300 votes
He survived a previous assassination attempt, and predicted the one that would take his life in his final public speech noted in question two
11%
236 votes
In 1974, King's mother Alberta Williams King, was shot dead during a Sunday service inside Ebenezer Baptist Church at age 69.
6%
120 votes
Even after his untimely death, King was still picking up huge honors. One of them was a posthumous Grammy for his speech Why I Oppose the War in Vietnam. After being the youngest man to ever win the Nobel Peace prize in 1964, he would also be one of the youngest to posthumously win the Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal, the highest honors an American civilian can receive.
9%
204 votes
Knew all
10%
214 votes
Knew none
56%
1206 votes
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