7 chapters across the catalog
Carl Oglesby theorizes that the assassinations of JFK, RFK, and MLK were "gunplay" resulting from the intense conflict between Yankee and Cowboy power factions. The 1960 election of Kennedy was viewed by the Cowboy/Nixonian faction as a "Yankee theft" involving the Chicago political machine. The subsequent violence of the decade is framed as a series of power moves and counter-moves to control the direction of the American government.
Archival audio captures the shock of the 1968 assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in Memphis. Dr. Cornel West comments on the spiritual death felt by the black community following the loss of their non-violent leader. The hosts discuss the subsequent riots and the shift in the youth's mindset toward more radical action.
A 1968 archival clip features a man named Mr. Hastings, a descendant of slave owners, discussing his evolving "liberal" views on racial equality. Hastings admits that white Southerners previously viewed Black people as "superior pets" rather than human beings, requiring white people to do their thinking for them. The hosts analyze this mindset as the precursor to modern political liberalism, where Black people are treated as dependents on a "political plantation."
Georgia State Representative Vernon Jones delivers a speech at the RNC criticizing the Democratic Party for pandering with Kente cloths while failing to deliver results. The hosts compare his "presidential" delivery to a 1968 documentary clip where a white man describes Black people as "superior pets." They argue that the Democratic establishment still views Black voters through this lens of "benign neglect" and psychological management.
A 1968 documentary titled "The Heritage of Slavery" features Norwood Hastie, an heir to a South Carolina plantation. Hastie argues that slavery was not immoral because Africans were "untrained for civilization" and required 24-hour care by owners, reflecting a paternalistic mindset.
A rarely played 1968 clip of Martin Luther King Jr. features him demanding a check from the government, noting that white peasants from Europe were given millions of acres of land and federal subsidies. King critiques the "bootstraps" narrative, pointing out that the government provided land-grant colleges and low interest rates to others while refusing the same to black Americans. The hosts highlight this as a part of King's legacy that is intentionally ignored by modern "tools" who use his image.
On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The official narrative identified James Earl Ray as the lone gunman who fired from a nearby rooming house bathroom. However, the hosts introduce skepticism regarding this account, noting that Ray's "three names" fit a typical pattern for alleged lone assassins in American history.
