Question about last week's episode of Mad Men.

[Randy Lahey]

Do you think white America was really that upset when Martin Luther King was murdered? I'm very curious. Please don't be offended.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Randy Lahey

[Vincent Vega]

Some were; some weren't

You have to understand that for some people, MLK was the beloved figure he is considered today. But for others--even non racists--he was considered a rabble rousing trouble maker.

In the last few years before he died, he had become controversial--even among white people who had supported him before--for saying stuff like America was the greatest perpetrator of violence in the world; speaking in favor of financial reparations for slavery; speaking of how America needed to institute democratic socialism instead of capitalism. As you can imagine, such statements didn't sit well with many mainstream Americans, even ones who had supported the Civil Rights movement. Many of his previous supporters in the government, like President Johnson and others, backed away from him.

From people I've spoken to who were alive in 1968, the view for many was that King was a great man, but a great man who had already seen his best days and greatest moments. He wasn't the same shining figure who led the March on Washington. As it was, the Civil Rights movement was fragmented, split into several groups, some militant, some not; King was no longer the monolithic leader who he was say in 1963.

Basically, it was sad, but it wasn't as shocking, traumatizing, or tragic as say JFK's murder, at least among whites. With King, you already had a man who had hit--and passed--his potential, his greatness. Whereas with JFK, many feel we were robbed of his potential and his potential greatness when he was killed.

Among black people, though, it was a tragedy on par with JFK's death. There were riots in countess cities when news of his murder broke.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Vincent Vega

[Black Sabbath]

Were they smoking in an office?

[PappyTron]

MLK was a great man, but by the Gods did he plagerise half of what he said and wrote; a fact seemingly brushed under the carpet of history.

[Randy Lahey]

I found it hard to believe that all the characters on Mad Men (minus Harry Crane) were so upset when they heard that King had been murdered. At first I thought it was Bobby Kennedy who had been killed.

Edited May 6, 2013 by Randy Lahey

[Crazyman]

At first I thought it was Bobby Kennedy who had been killed.

So did I. That's gonna be an interesting episode...I wonder if Dawn is going to give Joan an awkward hug this time?