The day before, Dr. Martin Luther King, America's foremost civil rights activist, was assassinated in Memphis. Many American cities broke out in riots. On the first night, Boston's black neighborhood of Roxbury suffered disturbances, but they were largely confined to that one neighborhood.
But James Brown, the black singer known as "The Godfather of Soul" (among many other nicknames, almost as many as Babe Ruth, hence Apollo Creed's affinity for him in the film Rocky IV), was scheduled to give a concert at the Boston Garden the next night. There was a fear that his fans, at that point almost entirely black, might riot at the concert.
So the city government considered canceling the concert, in the interest of public safety. But then, it was suggested that the cancellation might cause a riot. It was a "damned if you do, and damned if you don't" situation. And the Mayor of Boston had to decide.
He was one of the youngest big-city Mayors in the country, only 38 years old, having been elected as a Democrat the previous November, after having served 7 years as the Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. His father and grandfather had both served as President of the City Council, making them 1st in line to fill a vacancy in the Mayor's office. He was facing the kind of challenge that most Mayors don't face only 3 months into the job. To make matters worse, his name was White. Kevin White.
Tom Atkins, a local NAACP leader, suggested that the concert be broadcast live on WGBH-Channel 2, Boston's station on National Educational Television (NET, which became the Public Broadcasting Service, PBS, in 1970). That way, anybody who didn't have a ticket could stay at home and watch it, instead of going to the streets around the Garden, where the situation might become figuratively, or even literally, inflamed.
White agreed, and met with Brown. Brown was concerned that if this was done, the concert wouldn't sell out. He was expecting $60,000 in gate receipts -- about $504,000 in 2022 money -- which had to be spread among himself and everybody working for him that night. White told him the City of Boston would pay any shortfall of the $60,000, and Brown agreed to let the show go on.
White went to the concert himself, taking the stage first. He reminded the crowd that Dr. King had gotten his doctorate of divinity from Boston University, and had come to love the city and its role in advancing freedom for all Americans, including black Americans. It hadn't always been apparent in recent times: Bill Russell, the great star of the Boston Celtics and by then their head coach, had called it a racist city. Events in the 1970s would deepen this perception nationally.
But White, who might have been the last person many of the fans wanted to see on that stage, spoke with great eloquence, closing with, "So all I ask you tonight is this: To let us look at each other, here in the Garden and back at home, and pledge that, no matter what any other community might do, we in Boston will honor Dr. King in peace."
The concert went on, with only one hitch: A couple of fans, both black, rushed the stage in mid-song, but Brown's bodyguards kept them from reaching him. He stopped his song, and told the fans to "cool it," waited a moment, and resumed.
But that was it. There were no further incidents inside the Garden. WGBH followed their broadcast of the concert with an immediate rebroadcast, then another. And there were no disturbances in Boston that night.
Despite losing many of his fellow Irish-Americans in standing up for the rights of black people, including during the school-busing crisis of 1974, White was re-elected in 1971, 1975 and 1979, leaving office at the beginning of 1984. His 16 years as Mayor tied the Boston record set by James Michael Curley, no 2 of whose 4 terms were consecutive. Thomas Menino would later break White's record, by being elected to 5 terms and serving 20 years.
Brown was elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1986, and died in 2006. White died in 2012.
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April 5, 1968 was a Friday. Singer Paula Cole was born.
Baseball season opened the following week. Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were underway, but no games were scheduled.
There were 2 games in the NBA. The Boston Celtics beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 127-118 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia. John Havlicek scored 35 points. And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the San Francisco Warriors, 133-105 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. These games were both Division Finals. The Celtics went on to beat the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
There was 1 game in the American Basketball Association Playoffs: The New Orleans Buccaneers beat the Dallas Chaparrals, 104-99 at the Loyola Field House in New Orleans.
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