History Of Activism

History Of Activism

Like other members of the Civil Rights Movement, he was abandoned by many members of the white liberal community, for both his civil rights activities, and his stance against the War. To white conservatives and some liberals, he was unpatriotic for being against the War. Other white liberals, turned off by the rhetoric and purges of the SNCC, had abandoned the Civil Rights Movement after 1964 and turned their attention to the war in Vietnam. To the anti-war/anti-draft liberals, Dr. King was spending too much time on the Civil Rights Movement, and not enough time on the Anti-War Movement. King felt that the war and civil rights were inseparable, and wanted more white liberals to work towards ending racism as they worked towards ending a war. As if King did not have enough problems with whites, he faced mistrust among blacks as well. He was seen by many young activists as an "Uncle Tom," a "bootlicker," someone who would do the bidding of "The Man." On April 4th, 1968, in Memphis, as he was preparing for a multiracial "Poor People's March on Washington", King's earthly problems were solved by an assassin's bullet, and the problems of others across the nation, including NIU, were brought to a head.
5. Year of Discontent: 1968-69
In the week following the assassination of Dr. King, more than a hundred cities experienced riots. The death count reached thirty-seven people, twelve of them in the nation's capital. Fires and looting were common scenes in cities with a sizable black population. The death of Dr. King at the alleged hands of a white man had provoked more of a response from black militants and activists than his call for a united biracial campaign to march for economic freedom.
At NIU, an impromptu memorial service was held at the University Center (now the Leslie A. Holmes Memorial Student Center). Black and white, students and faculty alike, met to remember the late Dr. King, and to reflect on the meaning of his non-violent life and violent death. Two...