Friday, November 18, 2022

J. Edgar Hoover Insults Martin Luther King in the Press


On this day in 1964 years of resentment by FBI head, J. Edgar Hoover exploded into the national news when Hoover called King, the “most notorious liar” in America. The attack was a response to King’s criticisms of the FBI regarding its failure to protect civil rights leaders from racist assaults. King was speaking of how many ‘Freedom Riders’ and Black activists had been attacked and assaulted by the KKK and law enforcement for trying to help Black voters in the South, particularly in Mississippi.

Hoover had long despised King for being a potential communist as well as a disruptive force in society, Hoover distrusted change and no one was pressing for change more than King. Hoover had ordered wiretaps of the civil rights leader the year previous and was disgusted by both King’s extra-marital affairs and how he spoke of public figures in front of crowds, such as Hoover himself, and how he spoke of the same people in private with friends and advisors. King personally had no animosity toward Hoover but felt he was an ineffective leader of the FBI.

After the interview where Hoover called King a ‘notorious liar’ controversy ensued that even pulled in President Lydon Johnson with calls for him to fire Hoover. This led to a meeting in Hoover’s office on December 1, 1964, between Hoover and King and his advisors Ralph Abernathy and Andrew Young, where Hoover basically dismissed any issues and lectured the three men on the actual best way to achieve their objectives without causing disruptive protests.

Sources: 

https://www.historynet.com/encounter-j-edgar-hoover-lectures-martin-luther-king/

https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2011/11/what-really-happened-between-j-edgar-hoover-and-mlk-jr/248319/


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