Nation: The Moderates' Predicament

Martin Luther King's last book was titled Where Do We Go from Here? The question was not merely rhetorical. For as long as two years before the murder in Memphis, the civil rights movement was divided, with no clear direction, no certain answers, and dozens of would-be leaders vying for the allegiance of the black masses, particularly those in the nation's ghettos. With King's death, the question—and the answer—becomes urgently compelling.

King had the widest following of any black leader, but even he could claim nothing like universal loyalty. Though he was admired and respected by the vast majority of Negroes, his...

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