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The Assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Baltimore Riots of 1968

We do not know what Martin Luther King, Jr. would have preached on Palm or Easter Sunday, 1968, because on April 4th, shortly before Holy Week began, he was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. What we do know is that as his body was interred, America exploded in the greatest spate of domestic violence since the Civil War. Peter Levy examines uprisings that took place across the United States, with a special focus on the one that took place in Baltimore, Maryland, which played a crucial role in the rise of Spiro Agnew as a national symbol of the New Right. In addition, the Baltimore Uprising compels us to concentrate on one of, if not the central, dilemma in American history: race. Indeed, at the fortieth anniversary of King's assassination, we are reminded of Langston Hughes' famous refrain: "What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? . . . Or does it explode?" Requires equipment for PowerPoint presentation. Adult and high school audiences.

Peter Levy is Professor of History at York College, Pennsylvania. He has numerous publications on the Civil Rights movement. He holds a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. from Columbia University.