On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated outside of his room at the Lorraine Motel of Memphis, Tennessee. The city of Memphis essentially was at a place of destruction. People rebelled; property was destroyed, tears were shed, and the United States' was at war with humanity. King had influenced both whites and blacks during his life. On the day of his death, Barbara R. was just 17 years old.
Barbara lived on a small farm in the outskirts of Memphis, Tennessee. Life was on a farm was not full of convenience. The television channels were limited and everything was done by hand and with a purpose. People kept to themselves during the 1960s. Nobody venture out to the different cultures.
April 4,1968 was a normal day for Barbara. She went to school as required. Being a senior, the school day seemed to drag on. She had heard that King was in town speaking, but she didn't think much about it. She got home and went straight to the fields to pick cotton. When Barbara arrived to the house for dinner, it was minutes before King's death. She are with her family, and they turned on the television. The Rhoads family received the news of the assassination. Barbara felt scared more than anything. She did not know where the country was headed next.
People became angry. The National Guard was brought into Memphis for protection and curfews were issued to the public. People became scared and some even grabbed their rifles for more protection. Barbara remembers seeing riots break out on the news. The people were either mad, scared, or didn't care. The rest of the night, the Rhoads family stayed locked away at home. They stayed near the TV to see if any danger was headed their way. The city was filled with fighting among people, rioting of citizens, and destroying of the city.
Barbara felt the same way about King after his death as before. She respected him and thought of him as knowledgeable. She believed he had the right view of the situation. Barbara respected what King stood for. He impacted the whole country with his words of wisdom. However, after his death, the country took a sharp change in view point. Some whites were upset about Martin Luther King's death and some were glad that he was dead. The people of the United States began to realize the rights they had. People became more appreciative of what they had. For the most part, people became more united as a whole.