New in the collection: Pinback from MLK visit to Raleigh

Pinback for Martin Luther King visit to Reynolds Coliseum

“Nearly forgotten, Dr. King spoke in Raleigh to an integrated audience of about 5,000 at Reynolds Coliseum at 4 p.m. on July 31, 1966. A counter-protest began two hours earlier with speeches at Memorial Auditorium and continued with a march by members from two factions of the Ku Klux Klan….

“King spoke against ‘Black supremacy’ in Raleigh because Stokely Carmichael had stirred crowds just weeks before in Mississippi by repeating violent declarations of  ‘Black Power.’ He also declared. ‘The Negro needs the white man to save him from his fear, and the white man needs the Negro to save him from his guilt.’ ”

— From “When MLK and the KKK met in Raleigh” by W. Jason Miller in the News & Observer (April 3, 2018)

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One thought on “New in the collection: Pinback from MLK visit to Raleigh”

  1. I was at program and I remember when MLK spoke in Raleigh! Little known is only days after MLK spoke in Raleigh less than thirty miles away in Franklinton HEW announced they reached deal with White BOE to transfer my entire Seventh Grade Class from Negro School to achieve Desegregation! KKK Marched Rallied and had Meetings against Negro Seventh Grade being enrolled in White School! Soon after White BOE withdrew from Desegregation Plan! When MLK spoke in Raleigh only a few days earlier said since NC is a Liberal State he didn’t understand why they had most KKK in America!

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