La dernière année de Martin Luther King vue par le New York Times

Parfois quand on souhaite commémorer les hommes et les femmes qui ont marqué l'histoire nous gommons les aspérités, nous ne retenons que certains aspects de leurs luttes ou de leurs gestes. Si l'histoire retient le nom de Martin Luther comme pionnier de la lutte pour la reconnaissance des droits civiques des Noirs, il faut également se souvenir de ses doutes, de ses revers et du manque d'appui dont il a été victime dans l'ensemble des États-Unis. Il serait beaucoup trop facile et même commode d'oublier la complexité de la période, de la cause et de l'homme.

 "Positioning racial equality as part of the antiwar movement was a stark shift. And it was met with immediate pushback by civil rights leaders.

 The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People voted unanimously against a proposal by Dr. King to issue a public proclamation merging the civil rights and peace movements.

Ralph J. Bunche, who at the time was a director of the N.A.A.C.P. and an Under Secretary for Political Affairs at the United Nations, was quoted as saying that “the two efforts have too little in common,” and suggested that Dr. King should “positively and publicly give up one role or the other.” Dr. King responded that he did not speak for the broader antiwar movement.

At the same time, the movement was being frayed because well-coordinated nonviolent protests that Dr. King had led were devolving into unrest at the same time a muscular black power movement was emerging.

After a peaceful rally in Chicago in March 1967, a group of local black ministers said Dr. King had been a failure who “created hate” during marches the previous summer and that the “outsider” should “stay in Alabama.”

In April 1967, Dr. King warned that certain American cities were becoming “powder kegs” ready to “explode in racial violence.” Roy Wilkins, the executive director of the N.A.A.C.P., called those remarks “dangerous.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/03/us/the-last-year-of-martin-luther-king-jrs-life-according-to-the-times.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&clickSource=story-heading&module=photo-spot-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news