The Haunting Echoes of 1968

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King (1929–1968) addresses crowds during the "March on Washington" at the Lincoln Memorial, where he gave his "I have a dream" speech, in Washington on Aug. 28, 1963. Central Press/Getty Images

Commentary

The course of human history is replete with evil deeds and natural disasters: massacres, famines, persecutions, unhinged murderers, volcanic eruptions, mass drownings, wars, floods, droughts, and all manner of mania like witch crazes, blood libels, and ethnic hatreds. No year has ever escaped being marred by some outrage or disaster. But some years have been worse than others.