On Oct. 16, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spent time in Northern California at Sacramento State. Video from KCRA 3’s archives shows the civil rights leader giving a speech at what was known then as Sacramento State College at Campus Stadium. “Our universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” King said to a crowd of about 7,000 people. In the portion of the speech found in our archives, King called for people of goodwill to condemn the status quo of “intolerable conditions” being experienced by low-income Black Americans. “What I want to talk about, it is just as necessary for the concerned person and the person of goodwill to condemn the intolerable conditions which continue to exist in our society, which cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative but to engage in violence in order to call attention to their problem,” he said. “But after all, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and democracy have not been met, and it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, humanity and equality.”According to Sacramento State, at the time of King’s visit he had been planning another march on Washington to demand better housing, homes and education for low-income Americans. King was also getting death threats at the time. He was assassinated less than six months after giving the speech in Sacramento. Watch the video above to hear some of King’s remarks. | RELATED | Sac State honors Dr. King on 50th anniversary of campus visitSee more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel–Former KCRA 3 digital editor Hope Miller contributed to this story.
On Oct. 16, 1967, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spent time in Northern California at Sacramento State.
Video from KCRA 3’s archives shows the civil rights leader giving a speech at what was known then as Sacramento State College at Campus Stadium.
“Our universe is long, but it bends toward justice,” King said to a crowd of about 7,000 people.
In the portion of the speech found in our archives, King called for people of goodwill to condemn the status quo of “intolerable conditions” being experienced by low-income Black Americans.
“What I want to talk about, it is just as necessary for the concerned person and the person of goodwill to condemn the intolerable conditions which continue to exist in our society, which cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative but to engage in violence in order to call attention to their problem,” he said. “But after all, a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and democracy have not been met, and it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice, humanity and equality.”
According to Sacramento State, at the time of King’s visit he had been planning another march on Washington to demand better housing, homes and education for low-income Americans.
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King was also getting death threats at the time. He was assassinated less than six months after giving the speech in Sacramento.
Watch the video above to hear some of King’s remarks.
| RELATED | Sac State honors Dr. King on 50th anniversary of campus visit
See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
–Former KCRA 3 digital editor Hope Miller contributed to this story.