Devastating losses for the civil rights movement occurred in 1968. The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., on April 4, 1968, and the widespread burning and looting in many cities that immediately followed resulted in massive destruction, injuries, and the death of protestors. Showing two African American men running, one representing Progress, the other, Violence, Herblock seems to ask which approach will prevail. Pulling ahead of his angry-looking brother, the figure of Progress signals hope for continuing gains in the struggle.