Not coincidentally, the misleading conventional wisdom about Ray carries a number of false historical implications.
For one, the claim that Ray was motivated by extreme racism unrealistically confines the murder and King's focus to the Jim Crow-era of Deep South segregation and related civil rights abuse. The most blatant of those injustices now appear to have been solved. That makes today's younger audiences think of King and his messages a part of history that has fading relevance to today's problems.
Not so. King's legacy remains highly relevant to today. During the last years of his life, he focused on economic justice, anti-war activity and coalition building. By 1968, these goals were far more threatening to the power structure than civil rights.
Rather than repeat some of the many apt tributes to King's legacy honoring his memory this week, let's focus on a colossal irony: King's was a black life that truly "mattered" and yet key facts about his death and legacy are little known even among his supporters.
The "Poor People's Campaign" that King envisioned was intended to unite whites and others in a mass movement far beyond the scope of the largely black-led civil rights marches in the Deep South that included some white supporters.
And yet the news blackout has meant many of those most focused currently on injustice issues have scant suspicion that the circumstances of the great prophet's death, like that of the two Kennedys, are in dispute. But the facts are readily understandable to those who disregard the "conspiracy" smear and dare to look at the scientific, witness and other evidence.
Democracy Danger
As we celebrate the legacy of the fallen leader King this month, his death provides lasting lessons for wider problems that we face now.
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