Is Dr. King's achievement at risk? - CNN.com: On April 3, 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. went to Memphis, Tennessee, to stand in solidarity with sanitation workers of AFSCME Local 1733 and the wider community they inspired.
The city of Memphis had refused to recognize the union, paid its black workers less than whites, and always saved the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs for African-Americans. The day following his arrival, April 4, 1968, King was assassinated.
During his life, King had witnessed dramatic change: brave Americans demonstrating nonviolently for equality, a Supreme Court recognizing that separate is not equal justice under law, and a federal government courageously passing the Voting Rights Act, despite its political consequences, because it was the right thing to do.
