This is a legit bombshell washingtonpost.com/history/2023/0…
an outright fabrication that shaped (for the worse, i think) the way millions of americans thought about the relationship between king and malcolm
@jbouie Reminded me of a book called Martin, Malcolm and America (1991), which argued that differences between the two men had been overstated… yet none other than Alex Haley himself blurbed in praise of this thesis on the book’s back cover.
@jbouie I see. So we know the media was corrupt and fraudulent even back then. Got it.
@jbouie @briebriejoy I agree, I remember this. It was impactful!
@jbouie @tifffuxxsake Excellent journalism. America needed both of these great orators.
@jbouie Why was this never addressed at the time it was published?? Did Playboy not check? Did MLK not read the article and see he was quoted out of context? The only begs more questions…
@jbouie Eig is right to share what he found with precision, but it's hard to reach "fraud" or "fabrication" about the quote. King doesn't seem to have objected. We don't know the ground rules or later discussions Haley and King may have had, or checks by editors. Maybe King did approve.
@jbouie Incredible find. Hard to believe it’s taken this long for someone to find the original transcripts and compare them.