Rafael Trujillo's Assassination

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The 1960’s was a period of inequality and controversy, coined as the “Golden Era of Assassinations”. On record, there were six political assassinations: former dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, the 35th president of the United States, John F. Kennedy, African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist, Malcolm X, the founder of the American Nazi Party, George Lincoln Rockwell, African-American Baptist minister and leader of the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and last but not least, former senator of New York and brother of John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy. Starting with the former dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo, nicknamed Generalissimo, became dictator in 1930 through political maneuvering and torture. His dictatorship is considered one of the bloodiest in American history. During his campaign, he formed a secret police task force to murder supporters of the competing parties. Those who dared to oppose him were imprisoned, tortured and murdered. Their bodies often disappeared, rumoured to have been fed to the sharks (BBC.com, “‘I shot …show more content…

Martin Luther King Jr., sent shockwaves through the nation. King had lead the civil rights movement since the mid-1950s. He used nonviolent protest and compassionate ways to pave the way for equality in America. His assassination led to an outpouring of anger among black Americans, as well as a period of national mourning that helped speed the way for an equal housing bill that would be the last significant legislative achievement of the civil rights era (History.com staff “Martin Luther King, Jr. Assassination”). On April 4th, 1968, Martin Luther King was deprived the right of continuing to provide his supporters with his motivating leadership skills. He was killed by a single shot while standing on the balcony of his second floor hotel room. The world was shocked by yet another senseless act of

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