Living the Dream

The Contested History of Martin Luther King Jr. Day

Daniel T. Fleming

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Hardback

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English

The University of North Carolina Press
28 June 2022

History; History of the Americas; Political science & theory

Living the Dream tells the history behind the establishment of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the battle over King's legacy that continued through the decades that followed. Creating the first national holiday to honor an African American was a formidable achievement and an act of resistance against conservative and segregationist opposition.

Congressional efforts to commemorate King began shortly after his assassination. The ensuing political battles slowed the progress of granting him a namesake holiday and crucially defined how his legacy would be received. Though Coretta Scott King's mission to honor her husband's commitment to nonviolence was upheld, conservative politicians sought to use the holiday to advance a whitewashed, nationalistic, and even reactionary vision of King's life and thought. This book reveals the lengths that activists had to go to elevate an African American man to the pantheon of national heroes, how conservatives took advantage of the commemoration to bend the arc of King's legacy toward something he never would have expected, and how grassroots causes, unions, and antiwar demonstrators continued to try to claim this sanctified day as their own.

By: Daniel T. Fleming
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 155mm,
Weight: 276g
ISBN: 9781469667812
ISBN 10: 1469667819
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 28 June 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Daniel T. Fleming is lecturer at the University of New South Wales.

Reviews for Living the Dream: The Contested History of Martin Luther King Jr. Day

"A riveting book that provides many insights for further reflection for historians, activists, and those committed to furthering and interpreting King's legacy. The study is expertly sourced and accessibly written.""--Anglican and Episcopal History Fleming uses the King holiday to show that desires for racial reconciliation collapsed under the weight of good intentions set out by whites and Blacks alike. This is the book's most important message. . . . a much-needed addition to the growing literature on civil rights memory.""--Marvin T. Chiles, Journal of Southern History"