Impact of King's Assassination

• Positive impact of King's assassination

  Within weeks of assassination-1968- Congress was shamed into passing a Fair Housing Act- prohibited racial discrimination in the sale or rental of housing & required the Department of Housing & Urban Development 'affirmatively to further the purposes' of fair housing
• Negative impact of King's assassination

  White resistance made it difficult to enforce the Fair Housing Act & discrimination in housing continued
• SNCC had always feared King's 'top-down leadership'

  Distracted from the need to empower black communities at grassroots levels
• The civil rights movement remained leaderless at the national level without King


  Black activists continued to work effectively at a local level
• The executive & Judaical branches of the Federal GOV continued to aid black Americans- mostly through the promotion of affirmative action
• Immediate aftermath of the assassination


  1. Provoked major riots in over 100 cities across America

  2. 46 people died

  3. 3,000 injured

  4. 27,000 arrested

  5. 21,000 federal troops & 34,000 National Guardsmen restored order

  6. $45 million worth of damaged to property across the nation
• King's relative moderation


  Encouraged followers of Black Power in their belief that it was not the best way forward