Honor King/End Racism (Photos and Sign)
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968. On April 8, an estimated 40,000 people marched in silent protest through the streets of Memphis. Many of the participants carried signs created specifically for the event—signs with the words “Honor King: End Racism” in simple black letters. Still mourning her husband and partner’s assassination, King’s wife, Coretta Scott King, took his place at the head of the march.
Respecting King’s non-violent methods, supporters organized the April 8th memorial march both in his honor and to demonstrate continued solidarity for the local Memphis sanitation workers. Coretta Scott King and three of the couple’s children led the silent crowd along with Dr. Abernathy and others. Despite local fears, the demonstrators proved to the world that Dr. King’s legacy of non-violent resistance remained strong and that his sacrifice would not end the struggle for equality in America.
Between April 5 and 8, 1968, over one hundred U.S. cities had experienced riots of varying degrees. Memphis officials saw these events and feared that similar violence could erupt during the planned memorial march, especially considering King’s slaying occurred in their city. Civil rights leaders and King’s family urged calm and adherence to the leader’s non-violent teachings. However, others, angered over King’s death, clashed with authorities.
King’s murder changed the tenor of race relations as the Black Power movement expanded the struggle for civil rights into demands for self-determination and cultural nationalism—demands that emphasized human rights and self-reliance in addition to civil rights.
The printed sign and photographs displayed above are now in the collection of theSmithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visitors to the museum can view these objects in the “Changing America: 1968 and Beyond” exhibition.
Credits and Sources:
2011.16.5 - Memorial March after assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Main Street, Memphis, TN, April 8, 1968. Photographed by: Dr. Ernest C. Withers. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Anthony Decaneas, Decaneas Archive, and Ernest C. Withers Trust, © Ernest C. Withers Trust
2011.57.6 - Placard from memorial march reading "HONOR KING: END RACISM!", 1968. Published by: Allied Printing Trades Council. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
2012.108.2 - Honor King End Racism From the series: Martin Luther King, Jr. Funeral, 1968; printed 2012. Photographed by: Burk Uzzle. Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, © Burk Uzzle
"About Dr. King." Accessed January 10, 2016. http://www.thekingcenter.org/about-dr-king.
"About Mrs. King." Accessed January 10, 2016. http://www.thekingcenter.org/about-mrs-king.
"King’s Widow Heads March in Memphis." Chicago Tribune, April 8, 1968. Accessed January 10, 2016. http://archives.chicagotribune.com/1968/04/08/page/3/article/kings-widow-heads-march-in-memphis.
