MLK day is just around the corner, and given the past year we’ve had, 2018’s memorial of the pivotal civil rights leader should hopefully give pause to carefully consider the issue of race relations in this country. Ahead of the holiday, the publication Newsweek issued what many are calling a tone-deaf tweet that contained a closeup photo of a dead King in his casket. The tweet was accompanied by the caption: “Has anybody here seen my old friend Martin?” The tweet also linked to an article of upcoming milestones, including King’s assassination.
The caption is actually a quote from the song “Abraham, Martin, and John.” The song, which was written in 1968 by Dick Holler, honors the lives of Abraham Lincoln, MLK, President John F. Kennedy, and his brother Robert.
What we hope were good intentions didn’t matter to King’s daughter Bernice, who thought the tweet was grossly insensitive. “Why, @Newsweek? Wow.”
Many other people agreed.
Soon after they were called out, Newsweek deleted the post and issued and apology. “Earlier this afternoon we published an opinion piece with an insensitive image of Martin Luther King Jr. We sincerely apologize to the King family for this egregious error.”
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