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Scott Rasmussen's Number of the Day for April 4, 2018
The Number of the Day columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
April 4, 2018: Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated 50 years ago today at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. It was one of the most horrible moments in one of our nation’s most challenging years.
An earlier Number of the Day featured the 1,651 words in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Controversial at the time, that speech is now “rightly recognized alongside the Declaration of Independence and the Gettysburg Address as one of the clearest expressions of the American Creed.”[1]
As I noted in Politics Has Failed: America Will Not, King was a visionary leader who clearly recognized that change comes from outside the political process: “What lobbying and imploring could not do in legislative halls,” said King, “marching feet accomplished a thousand miles away.”[2]
He described the movement’s great victories like this:
| “ | The 1960 sit-ins desegregated lunch counters in more than 150 cities within a year. The 1961 Freedom Rides put an end to segregation in interstate travel. The 1956 bus boycott in Montgomery, Alabama, ended segregation on the buses not only of that city but in practically every city of the South. The 1963 Birmingham movement and the climactic March on Washington won passage of the most powerful civil rights law in a century.[3][4] | ” |
The strategy worked because it didn’t focus on changing laws, but rather focused on changing the culture. The then-new technology of television covered all of these events and showed untold millions of viewers the gap between America’s rhetoric and the reality of segregation. It challenged the nation to live up to its high ideals.
Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology.
- April 3, 2018 – 8 Democratic Senate seats at risk in midterm elections
- April 2, 2018 – 25 constitutional amendments may be proposed to Florida voters
- March 30, 2018 – 71% of Americans identify as Christians
- March 29, 2018 – 12 Republican governorships at risk in midterm elections
- March 28, 2018 – 10 percent drop in New York luxury home prices
- To see other recent numbers, check out the archive.
Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day is published by Ballotpedia weekdays at 8:00 a.m. Eastern. Click here to check out the latest update.
The Number of the Day is broadcast on local stations across the country. An archive of these broadcasts can be found here.
Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.
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See also
Footnotes
- ↑ Rasmussen, S. (2017). Politics Has Failed: America Will Not. Salt Lake City, UT: Sutherland Institute.
- ↑ King Jr., M.L. (2010). Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? Boston: Beacon Press. (page 18)
- ↑ King Jr., M.L. (2010). Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? Boston: Beacon Press. (page 59)
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
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