“Beyond the Bounds of Tolerance”

Abstract

In February 1968, the Memphis city garbage workers went on strike, an event that precipitated Martin Luther King's coming to the city and his subsequent assassination on April 4 of that year. The city's morning newspaper, The Commercial Appeal, on its editorial pages denounced the strike and derided King. The newspaper berated union officials, insulted the workers, and emboldened the intransigent mayor. This article is a review of the editorial page copy from the newspaper during the two months of the strike along with other materials that reveal the attitudes of Editor Frank Ahlgren. It shows that the hard-line approach during the first few weeks of the strike came from a fundamental misunderstanding of the black community and an overwhelming dislike for unions. Also, it examines whether the newspaper editorial page has some culpability in King's death.

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Notes on contributors

Thomas J. Hrach

THOMAS J. HRACH is an associate professor at the University of Memphis. His research focuses on journalism history, and this the second piece of research he has completed examining the history of The Commercial Appeal. Before receiving his doctorate from Ohio University, he was a reporter and editor for The Marietta (Ohio) Times.