Exact Answer: After about 4 years
Long ago, the Protestants of the civil rights of Selma were assaulted and mistreated. It is their sacrifice and efforts which has led to the establishment of the act regarding the voting rights of citizens. John Lewis, the young enthusiastic activist of those times led a protest along with the companionship of 600 other matches to Selma. They were stopped midway and were brutally attacked by the government troops which led to a blood pool in Selma. The pictures of this attack shook the whole nation and instilled in it the courage to stand for this racial injustice that had been tormenting them for ages.
A few months earlier to this incident, the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. This had helped to ease the African Americans thereby providing them with the privilege to vote. However, Alabama, the country where most of the population was African Americans had only 2% of voters.
How Long After Selma Was MLK Shot?
| Type | Time |
| Exact time | 3 years |
| Average time | 4 years |
The SNCC put down constant regular efforts to make the black people get back their rights. Amidst all this chaos and confusion, Martin Luther, popularly known as MLK came to the scene in 1965. He supported the reasons of the SNCC and SCLC and decided to support them. The tensions due to racial discrimination grew like a fire with time and turned places into graveyards. There was a constant fight between the government and the African Americans.
In 1965, Jimmie Lee Jackson, a young enthusiastic demonstrator, along with the companionship of other troops were shot and stuck hard while trying to save a mother. As a response to this incident, the leaders of civil rights decided to take their woos to the Governor and started a march to Montgomery, the capital of the state. Meanwhile, the king had already arranged a meet with the governor a few days earlier and had already discussed the issue. Hence, he stayed aloof from the march.
But, on reaching there, the authorities decided to check the fate of the protesters and devised a plan of flipping a coin. The result was that Hosea Williams was appointed as the representative of the SCLC. At the same time, Lewis was appointed as the representative of the SNCC. The march along with the representatives was even not successful because the troop was declared unethical and illegal. Hardships multiplied in number thereby making it difficult for the protesters to fight for their fights.
After few weeks, the king had abused and ruined the most widespread magazine of the nation for supporting the cause of the protesters. However, these incidences couldn’t stay hidden for a long duration and came to be known to the public who retorted back with humiliation.
Why Was MLK Shot So Long After Selma?
The workers who labored hard throughout the day to maintain the sanitation of the state were rewarded with extremely low payments. This led to strikes in which garbage bags were dumped on the streets. The leader of those workers had sought help from the King and the king had even addressed the people. But, as the demands of the people were not put into execution, they started reacting violently to the situation and started attacking the police and other government individuals.
To combat this situation, the king decided to choose the safety of the people over everything. The king was even humiliated for this action by the workers. He was deemed as the culprit for this surge of violence in the nation. Following this, the workers started retorting back with non-violence and conducted rallies to which the king promised before the general public to stand for the causes of these poor people.
On the very day of his sermon, he was assassinated by Ray. His death was one of the most heartbreaking news for the entire nation. It complicated the situations prevalent in the nation and further led to riots and other cold ware between the government and the African Americans. Although the White people lamented over the death of the king, they were not as affected as the African Americans.
With his death, faded away the only hope of all the African Americans to find justice. Millions of other leaders came a long way to help the cases of affected and prejudiced ones. But, none could match MLK and his actions. His death swiped the entire nation of its pride, courage, and valor. It took them significant time to stand up for themselves to fight back.
Conclusion
It is believed that the death of MLK was a pre-planned conspiracy by the Government of the US along with the companionship of police and the mafia members. Ray was just the individual who had shot the gun but other fingers actually triggered the bullet out of the gun. This is why the family members even filed a case in the court where government fellows accused of the conspiracy couldn’t defend their side. As a result of this, a lump sum of about $100 was given to the family.
The life and ideologies set by MLK couldn’t be compensated by anyone. After his death, the people of the nation further got disintegrated on racial grounds.