# White America's reaction to the shooting of MLK? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875 "2005-11-07T05:13:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/1 "2005-11-07T05:13:05Z")
Okay, okay, there’s no such thing as White America, give me a break. It’s hard to consolidate a question like this into a subject line. When MLK was shot in 1968, what was the reaction of Americans at the time? I am writing a play which has certain flashbacks to a white newspaper reporter in 1968. The play (and the flashbacks) are from a place in rural New England, although specifically where isn’t important to the play. What were the reactions of the day? Wikipedia says there was rioting in over 60 cities, but which cities? By whom? When did the riots start? What did New Englanders, specifically Democratic ones, think of MLK’s assassination _at the time_? How did the media react? And what would be a good, long-lived Bostonian newspaper he could work for? ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/2 "2005-11-07T05:22:27Z")
I think the Boston Globe would be an obvious choice for a newspaper although you reference rural areas. I am sure that they had reporters outside of Boston. Martin Luther King, Jr. went to graduate school in Boston (Boston University) so there is a connection there. The Globe is as liberal as you will find mainstream U.S. papers. I can only imagine the reaction would be one of shock and outrage. The Boston Globe lets you buy articles online for a few dollars a piece. I am not sure how far back they go. You could try that. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/3 "2005-11-07T08:06:55Z")
I was 8 years old when that happened. I remember a couple days later the riots in several American cities, because I happened to be quarreling with my sister, and my mom held up the banner headline in the paper about the riots and called our attention to it, to stop us from fighting. ---
**Author:** ![Kitchen\_Wench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f08c70/32.png) [@Kitchen\_Wench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kitchen_Wench)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/4 "2005-11-07T11:47:10Z")
According to my parents and grandparents, there was rioting in Kansas City. I don’t know how long it lasted or the extent of the damage, though. Sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/5 "2005-11-07T12:43:01Z")
In April 1968, I was fourteen, living in Gardenville, then an all-white neighborhood, in Baltimore, MD. When MLK was killed, my parents expressed shock, sadness and fear. There were riots in Baltimore after the murder. The business district on Gay Street, a few miles south of my home, was pretty much burned out. I remember there being a curfew, and a controversy about the reaction of Governor Spiro Agnew to the riots. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/6 "2005-11-07T12:48:04Z")
Well, I was around, and I was shocked (as a kid in grammar school). Most adults seemed to be, too. Nevertheless, I was surprised to hear “sdick” jokes about it at the time. I’ve heard “sick” jokes at the time of Waco, and the Challenger disaster, so I know there’s always some bunch that has to resdpond that way. But I notice there weren’t at the time any such jokes about the assassination of Bobby Kennedy. ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/7 "2005-11-07T14:28:59Z")
When Rev. King was killed, I was 10 and living in rural northern Pennsylvania. My mother and future step-father were shocked and saddened. We watched the news and saw the reports of rioting. My father lived in suburban Washington D.C. where the “H” street corridor was burned by the rioting. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/8 "2005-11-08T16:11:04Z")
Except among racists, we felt shock and sadness and fear for the country. My parents had some friends from Georgia (or was it Virginia?), where the state liquor stores were closed immediately after MLK’s death, and remained closed for almost a week. Not long ago, one of my parent’s friends told me that Southerners of a certain generation always kept sufficient liquor on hand “in case Martin Luther King gets shot again.” Sick, but a little funny, I must admit… ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/9 "2005-11-08T16:54:39Z")
Depends on which White America you talk to. We were shocked and saddened and horrified. But '68 was a rough year all around for Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/10 "2005-11-08T17:40:28Z")
In my area – Long Island, NY (and had only a very small Black popularion) – the reaction was of sadness and shock. King was quite well-regarded, especially compared to more militant Black leaders (though he was becoming more militant toward the end). I remember schools being closed in his honor. I was going to a competition on the Saturday after his assassination and it was called off. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/11 "2005-11-08T18:54:18Z")
Thank you for the answers so far. It will be very useful in writing this short scene. Just one more clarification, though. How did people find out about it? Obviously, in 1968 we had radio, TV and newspapers but no Internet and no 24-hour news channel. IIRC, King was shot at 6:10 in the evening, Memphis time, which would have been after the 5 o’clock news on the East coast. (The characters are in New England, with Boston the nearest major city.) Does anybody have any recollection (or links) that the news was broken on TV, or radio, or special edition of a newspaper? Was there an 7:00 TV news, or an 11:00 TV news? Did they only find out the next morning? Assuming the riots started when people found out, _when was this?_ The night of the assassination, or the following day? We’ve grown so accustomed to seeing up-to-the-minute updates on [CNN.com](http://CNN.com) and Live! coverage from Armpit, New Mexico or Eye Socket, Montana that it’s hard to remember what it was like back then. I was born in 1971 but even I remember in the day there were hourly nationwide news updates on AM radio by the mid-70s. (I still remember their 5-note musical button.) Is this how most people found out? Call me silly, but if I’m going to write a historical flashback, I wanna get it right. Sue me, I’m a Doper. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/12 "2005-11-08T19:59:31Z")
Sorry for the hijack, but I was in a suburban newsaper office when the news of George Wallace being shot came across the wire. I was a young hippie and gave a small cheer. I will never forget the looks that I got from the reporters. They were probably liberals, but they made it clear that the attempted assasination of a political figure, even one as vile as Wallace, was not something to be happy about. My respect for reporters went up quite a bit. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/13 "2005-11-08T20:03:11Z")
Another thing to remember for your book is that MLK got his PhD from Boston University, so there would be a local angle. ---
**Author:** ![Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f0a364/32.png) [@Rube\_E.Tewesday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rube_E.Tewesday)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/14 "2005-11-08T20:11:11Z")
I seem to recall finding out when ABC broke into an episode of _Bewitched_. I suppose I could be mixing it up with another of the catastrophes of that horrible year, but I don’t think so. ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/15 "2005-11-08T20:24:13Z")
From the 5 April 1968 New York Times: [quote] Dr. King’s murder is a national disaster, depriving Negroes and whites alike of ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/16 "2005-11-08T20:27:23Z")
Damnit, let’s try that again… From the 5 April 1968 New York Times: > [@](#): > > Dr. King’s murder is a national disaster, depriving Negroes and whites alike of a leader of integrity, vision, and restraint. The calamity of his loss will require a maximum of self-control and steadiness of nerve on the part of all the American People. > But the cause for which he died will find renewed strength and purpose in the inspiration of his memory, and it will surely triumph, for the cause is just. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/17 "2005-11-08T20:37:14Z")
Yes, all three broadcast networks (CBS, NBC, ABC) interrupted their programming with the news of King’s assassination. I remember watching CBS when CBS News broke in. This was basically a news anchor “talking head” report, as portable TV cameras weren’t available to cover the scene live from Memphis. As I recall, the special report lasted under five minutes. More coverage came with the 10 p.m. local news broadcast (11 p.m. in other time zones). ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/18 "2005-11-08T20:44:52Z")
Depending upon what your reporter’s beat is, his editor might have called him to have him get some local reactions as soon as work came in on the wire. ---
**Author:** ![VernWinterbottom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/c67d28/32.png) [@VernWinterbottom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VernWinterbottom)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/19 "2005-11-08T20:46:18Z")
soon as **word** came in. . . ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875/20 "2005-11-08T20:47:09Z")
For more information about how television covered the King assassination, look in your nearest university library for old issues of the weekly trade journal _Broadcasting_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/white-americas-reaction-to-the-shooting-of-mlk/329875.md?page=2)