“Some whites celebrated King’s death, everywhere from Mississippi and Memphis to Michigan and the Bronx.
“It was not just the older generation of whites that rejoiced at King’s assassination. Young whites absorbed the hatred of their parents and made it their own. A teacher at a Memphis-area high school asked his students to write about their responses to King’s assassination. Their comments are archived in the library at the University of Memphis. Most of the students responded with satisfaction or glee. One student described his immediate reaction to King’s death: ‘I thought it was one of the greatest feats of Americanism I have ever heard of.’ Another explained that because of King’s death, the country would be ‘better off in the long run.’”
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