https://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/2018/04/06/Phoenix/Phoenix/636586034212983157-Benson-King-Assassination-04-06-18.jpg?width=1280



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2018 12:53PM by steve benson.

I was living in Nashville 50 years ago and we were under curfew. The memory will be my tribute.

THE WHAT??

Ka-Ching!

Alone.

I was "attending" BYU and was home at that time, when the news came on. Of course, it wasn't like today where all TV shows were delayed due to breaking news.

I do remember hearing a couple of patriotic BYU boys talking about "one less n****r to worry about, or similar, on campus the next day.

My grandfather ETB's hatred of Dr. King had its effects. The reaction of my own parents to the murder of Dr. King reflected by grandfather's attitudes.

Dr. King was assassinated on 4 April 1968, which happened to be my sister's birthday. I remember that day, most notably by the fact that no mourning went on in our home over his death. Earlier in the evening, I had seen on our television news broadcasts of race riots erupting in major cities across the country in response Dr. King's murder. I remember the columns of black smoke rising from inner cities set aflame by Blacks outraged at the brutal murder of their hero--and of their hope.

But in the Benson home that night, we had more important things to do--like watching my sister blow out the candles on her cake, singing her "Happy Birthday" and passing out presents.

(On the 50th anniversary of his assassination, I was thinking about the cartoon I planned on drawing regarding what others were doing on that anniversary. Hence, the cartoon linked in this thread's OP).



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2018 03:49PM by steve benson.

The grown-up Mormons I grew up with were big fans of ETB. The phrase I heard most often when we watched the marches or riots on TV was, "Give them an inch and they'll take a mile."

There were no right wingers back then admiring MLK. Today they know to pretend.

When applied as it should be--equally and across the board--the Constitution gives them the miles that they are entitled to, together with the rest of their fellow American citizens.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2018 07:48AM by steve benson.

I didn't even know it passed. If there was a guy that died for freedom from cults i probably would remember it.

“[On February 24, 2018] Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr. . . . refuted the notion that her father ’didn’t offend people’ after someone on Twitter suggested that was the case.

“’At the time Daddy was killed, a poll reflected that he was the most hated man in America. Most hated,’ she explained. ‘Many who quote him now & use him to deter justice would likely hate him too if they truly studied #MLK.’

“The poll King is likely referring to was a 1966 Gallup poll, which, according to Newsweek, found that almost two-thirds of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of Dr. King and a third had a positive opinion, a 26 point unfavorable rate increase from 1963. Other Gallup polls from that era show the only person more despised than King was Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.”

(Source: “Bernice King’s Tweet About Her Dad Reminds Us That Social Change Is Often Controversial at First," by Samantha Leffler, “Black History Month,“ 26 February 2018)

She told me she didn't like it. I replied that the cartoon wasn't about her.

She said that it was an unfair indictment of everybody. I asked how it could be against everybody, since it featured two African-Americans.

She replied that she wanted to go to pro-King marches when she was 14 years old but that her parents wouldn't let her because they thought it was too unsafe for children.

Then, before I could ask her if she was a right-winger herself, she loudly declared, "You have an attitude!"

I answered, "So do you. We just disa--"

SLAM!

"--gree."

She had hung up the phone. End of "discussion."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/2018 04:43PM by steve benson.

steve benson Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> She told me she didn't like it. I replied that the
> cartoon wasn't about her.
>
> She said that it was an unfair indictment of
> everybody. I asked how it could be against
> everybody, since it featured two
> African-Americans.
>
> She replied that she wanted to go to pro-King
> marches when she was 14 years old but that her
> parents wouldn't let her because they thought it
> was too unsafe for children.
>
> Then, before I could ask her if she was a
> right-winger herself, she loudly declared, "You
> have an attitude!"
>
> I answered, "So do you. We just disa--"
>
> SLAM!
>
> "--gree."
>
> She had hung up the phone. End of "discussion."

That's awesome.

-Complainer:

"Re: MLK cartoon

"Mr. Benson

"You continue to outdo yourself. You either have terrific insight into the hearts of conservatives, or you are just plain dumber than dirt.....good art skills though.

"I look forward to be returning to Portland and the liberal, but rational, Oregonian."


-My reply:

"I’m the former. I know conservatives well. My grandfather, Ezra Taft Benson, was the Secretary of Agriculture under Dwight Eisenhower.

"If you can’t handle cartoons with which you disagree, well then, enjoy your escape back to the soggy dirt of Portland (Know it well. Used to live in the Pacific Northwest).

"Oh, and let me add that I worked as a staffer for the Senate Republican Policy Committee on Capitol Hill in D.C., John Tower, chair (R-TX)"
___


-Complainer:

"I don't mind cartoons with which I disagree...I just don't appreciate the very shallow ones.

"I'll pass your Portland comment onto my liberal friends in the great Northwest."


--My reply:

"Oh, please. If you didn’t mind a cartoon with which you disagree, you wouldn’t have emailed me to complain about it.

"As far as being 'shallow' is concerned, I have dealt with many critics over my professional career of nearly 40 years (which includes a Pulitzer) and I can safely say that when it comes to some of my detractors, I could easily walk through the deepest recesses of their minds and never get my feet wet."
_____


--Complainer:

"You've been around that long??

"And here i'm thinking you are still in high school."


--My reply:

"So, you don’t mind cartoons with which you disagree--until you decide that you do mind cartoons with which you disagree. This is obviously one of those cartoons with which you disagree—and which became so after you later added conditions that would allow you to be upset with cartoons with which you disagree.

"As far as our respective levels, I thought you were perhaps a grade or two below me.

"Have a good day . . . .

"Thanks for writing. Moving on."

*********


Another exchange with a different disputant:

Objector:

"Really Steve?

"And how does this promote constructive dialogue amongst the people who read your newspaper?

"It's an outrageous slander and does not represent any version of reality just because you are able to publish it. What it does reveal however is your own small minded and hateful bigotry towards people that you don't even know personally."


--My reply:

"Yes, really.

"Here is some reality-based information, from the King family itself, which supports the cartoon about which you are complaining:

“'[On February 24, 2018] Bernice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr. . . . refuted the notion that her father ‘didn’t offend people’ after someone on Twitter suggested that was the case.

“’"At the time Daddy was killed, a poll reflected that he was the most hated man in America. Most hated," she explained. "Many who quote him & use him to deter justice would likely hate him too if they truly studied #MLK."

“'The poll King is likely referring to was a 1966 Gallup poll, which according to Newsweek, found that almost two-thirds of Americans had an unfavorable opinion of Dr. King and a third had a positive opinion, a 26-point unfavorable rate increase from 1963. Other Gallup polls from that era show the only person more despised than King was Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.'”

"(Source: 'Bernice King’s Tweet About Her Dad Reminds Us That Social Change Is Often Controversial at First,' by Samantha Leffler, “Black History Month,” 26 February 2018).

"Thank you for writing."
_____


Objector:

"No, not really Steve. The poll that Bernice, and therefore you, referred to is now over 50 years old. The cultural outlook of most people in this country has changed drastically since then. The phrase you quoted: ‘Many who quote him & use him to deter justice would likely hate him too if they truly studied #MLK.’ is pure conjecture on her part and is hardly what constitutes 'reality based information' even if it does satisfy your own particular bias."


-My reply:

"Your issue is with members of the Martin Luther King, Jr. family. Email them--Bernice, in particular--and tell her and them that they’re wrong . . . ."
_____



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2018 09:28AM by steve benson.

Although I was in 5th grade at the time, I remember the day well. I wish I could say that my parents were upset, but they grew up in the south in the '20's and '30's so you can imagine their opinion. I realized that this was a big deal, but of course I didn't understand all of the ramifications.
For kids at the time I think we were aware of the politics of the day. I, as well as all of my friends, remembered the assassination of President Kennedy pretty clearly although were were very young (6 or so) at that time. We grew up with news of Vietnam and the civil rights movement on our TVs every night at dinner time. We knew people who had died in Vietnam by 1968.
We weren't "woke" at that age, but even 10-year-olds were paying attention (at least the ones I knew).

Martin Luther King is one of my few heroes. I spent the day mourning the fact that we have a moron in the White House who is hell bent on destroying King's legacy. As part of my commitment to progressive ideals, I am vowing to carry on King's fight against the injustices that still plague America.

Regarding ETB: Like many conservatives today, ETB was diametrically opposed to almost everything that MLK believed and tried to accomplish. Unfortunately, ETB's brand of rabid conservatism is still alive and well today.

The moron is all set to turn the clock back to 1950 something. Pollute all you want and it will be dangerous to be non-pink skinned and/or non-Christian. The country can probably survive 4 years, I don't think it will be able to take 8 and still be livable.

I'm actually thinking he's going to find a way to suspend elections due to the Russian Threat!

I testify that cartoon is spot on after a heart to heart talk with my black coworker yesterday (a 30 something male). He said I am one of the few of his non-black friends he can speak honestly to about race issues. I am grateful for the education.

It's strange to see so many white people (many exceptions of course) here (in AL) taking credit for the great strides with civil rights. NOW they give lip service to MLK. Yeah, after the fact.

Many Whites are responsible for the Great Leap Backwards.

(And congratulations on the well-deserved compliment from your Black coworker).

I recall, back in the 60s, a Mormon saying good things about Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. I remember thinking at the time how he
was really different from all the other Mormons I knew.

In 1966 our family moved from Arizona to Orem, Utah (because it
was the most Mormon place my parents could find). I remember
the billboard at the top of the Provo-Orem hill with a picture
of people sitting on benches and the caption "MARTIN LUTHER KING
AT COMMUNIST TRAINING SCHOOL."

https://img.thedailybeast.com/image/upload/c_crop,d_placeholder_euli9k,h_675,w_1200,x_0,y_0/dpr_2.0/c_limit,w_740/fl_lossy,q_auto/v1493051392/articles/2012/01/16/martin-luther-king-jr-a-communist-why-he-s-been-whitewashed/mainstreaming-of-martin-luther-king-avlon_zpyyms

I'd seen it before. Copies of it were scattered across the
country. I never heard anyone complain about, or question it.
Years after Dr. King's death I recall listening to people on
KTKK talk radio out of Sandy, Utah, talk about how they didn't
care for Dr. King because "he surrounded himself with too many
communists." It was more toned down than the talk I'd heard
before his death. This was the new "respect for the dead"
approach.

The right hated Dr. King when he was alive. The cartoon is spot on.