Discussion: MLK's Mother Was Assassinated, Too: The Forgotten Women Of Black History Month

system1 · February 3, 2015, 9:40pm

Discussion for article #232838

harrytruman · February 4, 2015, 12:06pm

The woman’s murder is not noted because it has no historical significance, The impact it had on her family and friends was no doubt tragic, but she was killed by a deranged gunman (who coincidentally was black) with a mental illness induced grievance against Christians. The article’s complaints about the author’s failure to know about this is not a reflection on his schooling or failing in education about the civil rights movement, but a comment on how much reading he does outside of the classroom on subjects he claims to be interested in.

maxaroo · February 4, 2015, 1:28pm

Those who visit Ebenezer Baptist Church see the facts of Mrs. King’s assassination, displayed prominently, and in detail.

rskillion · February 4, 2015, 2:15pm

Thank you “Harry Truman” - I read this entire article waiting to learn about the death of MLK’s mother, and got nothing until your excellent summary of what happened in the comments. And now I realize why the author avoided telling us what her headline promised - because it totally undercut her entire thesis. The Salon-ification of TPM marches on…

pfusand · February 4, 2015, 2:28pm

That would be “his thesis”.

kbob365 · February 4, 2015, 3:19pm

Errors in attribution often reveal an author’s biases…

jcs · February 4, 2015, 3:19pm

My response was the same as yours. Annoying. Give us the info the headline teases and away with the verbosity.

chuck_voellinger · February 4, 2015, 3:20pm

Yeah, weird article. I was expecting that Mrs King’s assassination was motivated by something Civil Rights-related, but it seems like the author might’ve picked a more “noteworthy” neglected female to illustrate the point?

kc63 · February 4, 2015, 3:45pm

I agree this was misleading. To use the word “assassinated” usually implies a political motive. But what is most frustrating is that the article doesn’t talk about her at all beyond the headline, really, so the author is perpetuating the problem he’s complaining about. "Well, we don’t study it that much because there’s no such thing.” Seems to be the case here.

joepaulson · February 4, 2015, 3:48pm

My only “but” here would be that the woman’s role in the church should be remembered. Saying she was “assassinated” etc. was misleading. It sounds like her death had more political significance than that word implies.

plkey · February 4, 2015, 3:54pm

I really like the phrase “The Salon-ification of TPM.”

I remember when one of the great promises of the Internet was that it would bring us new voices with new perspectives. That promise has been dead for a while, but when Amanda Marcotte showed up here to add a self-promoting, barely coherent screed to the Jonathan Chait political-correctness pile-on, that really put a flag on the tombstone.

ajm · February 4, 2015, 3:59pm

The author’s name did not reveal his gender to me and my first take was that this was written by a woman. It is unusual to see a man who understands the feminist point that the personal is political.

paperview · February 4, 2015, 3:59pm

Very disappointed in this story. Poorly written and yes, as the others have said, misleading. It doesn’t deserve headline status here at TPM.

ajm · February 4, 2015, 3:59pm

Josh employs a headline writer he is proud of. My guess is that the writer had little to do with the headline.

ajm · February 4, 2015, 4:01pm

You can’t have been here at TPM long or you would know that TPM rotates the headline status.

mrcomments · February 4, 2015, 4:16pm

Yes, plus King was already dead. Had he been alive when she was killed, huge story of course. Look at the murder of Bill Cosby’s son Ennis. It was fairly big news, but had Cosby already been dead it’s a small story. Same with Michael Jordan’s father. If Jordan is not alive, pretty minor story even in the sports world, never mind the media.

Actually the headline is wrong. She was not assassinated, she was murdered. There was nothing political about it.

josh_m · February 4, 2015, 4:18pm

I can assure you that TPM is a far more barebones operation than to be able to employ a person who just writes headlines.

josh_m · February 4, 2015, 4:22pm

Are you really saying that Squire is some sort of establishment figure who does not qualify as a ‘new voice’? I’m constantly struck by how people have some complaint about a particular article and need to cast it into some largely morality play.

josh_m · February 4, 2015, 4:23pm

This is the Salon-ification of TPM because the article is focused on the role of Black women in black history as opposed to Mrs King exclusively?

paperview · February 4, 2015, 4:29pm

I’ve been reading TPM for years. I love the site. I know it rotates (not that often ) – This one shouldn’t have been in the queue. Just very disappointed in this story.

For example, in order to learn about the actual story of how and why King’s mother was killed, I had to research it myself. The writer seemed to almost go out his way to avoid telling us what happened. I know the further point was on his own studies, the forgotten people of history and how many “transformational stories” he had been missing, but the reality of King’s mother being killed a crazed black man who hated Christians isn’t really all that transformational. It’s tragic, no doubt, but I think there’s a reason not many people know of this historical footnote.
I think some might know why.

It’s good to learn of the forgotten black women in history, but this story wasn’t it. IMO.