Claude B. Duval - Duval On Martin Luther King

Duval On Martin Luther King

Duval was state senator-elect at the time of the King assassination in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968. He issued a statement critical of the direction of the civil rights movement:

"The American flag flew at half-mast to a man who aided and abetted the communists of North Vietnam, as he publicly supported the draft card burners and sought to undermine and betray our fighting sons in Vietnam.

"In the avalanche of propaganda, hypocrisy, and falsehood that followed the death of King, the President Lyndon B. Johnson and national figures, together with the news media, have undertaken to eulogize and commit to martyrdom Martin Luther King, who, under the guise of non-violence, caused violence wherever he went.

"The voice of truth is not heard in the land. All has been forgiven, all has been forgotten. None seem to remember that only the day before his death, King openly declared his intention to violate law and order—a federal court order. This was nothing new, since he had previously violated a federal court order. . . .

"We witness in our major cities looting, theft, burglary, arson, robbery, murder-all, indeed, a fitting tribute to an advocate of violence.

"I call upon all men, the responsible Negro community as well as the white, to face the facts and truth and to dispel from all minds the falsehood and hypocrisy that have been visited upon us by our leaders and the news media. If the men who died in World War II, in Korea, and Vietnam should return, they would cry out in horror at the eulogizing of a man who. . . aided and abetted the enemies of this nation, who preached disobedience of law and who incited violence and riot.

“I know I speak against the tide of overwhelming emotion. . . but let the voice of truth be heard in the land. If it is possible, let the voice of reason be heard. Then may the Negro and the white communities join together in a truthful and realistic effort to build a better society."