MLK felt that black people in the northern states had been ignored for much of the civil rights campaigning because the focus had been on the southern states
He started the Chicago Freedom Movement
Chicago chosen because ¼ of its population was black and most lived in poverty and were unemployed
MLK promoted the same non-violent methods he’d used before but those methods weren’t successful
White people in Chicago were surprisingly hostile to MLK – he had a brick thrown at his head during a march
He believed that wealth should be spread evenly between blacks and whites
Many whites feared a fall in their house prices if blacks moved to their street
White people threw rocks and bottle at black protestors
MLK left Chicago in 1966 having been very unpopular and unsuccessful there
April 1968 visited Memphis where black refuse collectors were demanding equal pay and treatment and was assassinated
Assassination of Martin Luther King
MLK was finding it difficult to control his followers as they became increasingly frustrated by his principle of non-violence
MLK’s killer was James Earl Ray, a white racist, was arrested and jailed for the crime – though there is still doubt as to whether he was the real killer
Funeral attended by 100,000 people and his coffin was followed by 200,000 mourners
Impact of his death: final outburst of rioting in 100 cities, 46 people died, 21,000 people arrested – this violence was ironic given MLK’s views about violence
1968 President Richard Nixon came to power and the Vietnam War took centre stage over the civil rights movement
