Fifty Years
Scarcely two weeks have passed since a twenty-two year old father of two small children was shot eight times by police in his own backyard. The only weapon he held was a cell phone, and his only crime was the color of his skin. The shooting of Stephon Clark represents everything that is wrong with America. When people ask what white privilege means, this is it. I know I can safely stand in my own backyard, talk on my cell phone for hours, and not get shot in the back by local police. My African-American neighbor across the street does not enjoy that privilege.
Yes, we have made progress in the last fifty years. It was heartening to visit a theatre last week to watch an African themed movie that has been the biggest box office hit of the year, and currently ranks among the top ten grossing movies of all time. It was an encouraging moment to look at the other people in the theatre and realize that we weren’t the only white people there. The patrons in that theatre were as diverse as my neighborhood. Fifty years ago a movie like Black Panther would have been unthinkable.
I remember the day, fifty years ago, when Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. I was not quite nine years and one month old. We lived in Vinita, a small town in northeastern Oklahoma. The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite was one of those daily events where I had to be quiet while Dad watched with focused attention. Mom was usually in the kitchen fixing dinner, but would pop in periodically to catch what she could from the news.
Mom and Dad were Kennedy Democrats. They stood with both President Kennedy and President Johnson on the issue of Civil Rights. I also remember June 1963 and Mom cheering when President Kennedy sent in the National Guard to thwart the efforts of that “horrible man” (Alabama Governor George Wallace), who stood in the doorway trying to prevent black students from registering at the University of Alabama.
On the evening of 4 April 1968 the news was almost finished and dinner was almost ready. I was helping Mom set the table. Suddenly Walter Cronkite broke the news that Martin Luther King, Jr., had just been killed on the balcony of his hotel in Memphis. Mom shouted, “Oh No!” She quickly whispered to me to “be still” and sat in her chair next to Dad. Except for the voice of Walter Cronkite the room was silent. Mom and Dad were visibly shaken. They understood that this was a moment when the world stopped spinning.
The year 1968 was a difficult year. President Johnson had lost the support of his base over his handling of the Vietnam War. It was an election year, and he knew he could not win a second term, so he bowed out of the race. Bobby Kennedy was everyone’s favorite to win both the Democratic nomination and the election in November. Bobby was in Indianapolis at a campaign rally on the night of 4 April 1968 and broke the news to the gathered crowd. In his statement he said, “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.” Two months later, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated.
Fear and uncertainty gripped the country. Yet even in death the voice of Martin Luther King, Jr., could not be silenced. His belief that “none of us is free until all of us are free” motivates us today to pursue justice for all. Yes, we have made progress in the last fifty years, but we have so far left to go.
I hope we have learned lessons from the life and death of Martin Luther King, Jr. I would hope that those whose hearts are filled with hate learned that murder only makes the victim’s voice grow louder and clearer. However, hate has a way of preventing people from learning anything. I hope we learned that motivated citizens can be a force for change. When people march peacefully across a bridge, or down Pennsylvania Avenue, or on any state capitol building, their voices are heard and the electorate can be motivated to support them. Most of all, I hope we have learned that we are stronger when we are united in our diversity and not divided by the particulars of who we are.
Fifty years later we once again live in difficult political times. We have a president who seems to embrace all of the cultural ugliness that Dr. King fought so hard to eradicate. We have a congress that puts greed before justice. We have local authorities in communities across the country that buy into notions of bigotry. Yet there is a glimmer of hope. People of good conscience appear to be motivated now more than ever to combat the forces of ignorance and hatred. The voice of Martin Luther King, Jr., must be heard loud and clear today and every day.
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_priz...
https://www.bluewatertales.com
Yes, we have made progress in the last fifty years. It was heartening to visit a theatre last week to watch an African themed movie that has been the biggest box office hit of the year, and currently ranks among the top ten grossing movies of all time. It was an encouraging moment to look at the other people in the theatre and realize that we weren’t the only white people there. The patrons in that theatre were as diverse as my neighborhood. Fifty years ago a movie like Black Panther would have been unthinkable.
I remember the day, fifty years ago, when Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated. I was not quite nine years and one month old. We lived in Vinita, a small town in northeastern Oklahoma. The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite was one of those daily events where I had to be quiet while Dad watched with focused attention. Mom was usually in the kitchen fixing dinner, but would pop in periodically to catch what she could from the news.
Mom and Dad were Kennedy Democrats. They stood with both President Kennedy and President Johnson on the issue of Civil Rights. I also remember June 1963 and Mom cheering when President Kennedy sent in the National Guard to thwart the efforts of that “horrible man” (Alabama Governor George Wallace), who stood in the doorway trying to prevent black students from registering at the University of Alabama.
On the evening of 4 April 1968 the news was almost finished and dinner was almost ready. I was helping Mom set the table. Suddenly Walter Cronkite broke the news that Martin Luther King, Jr., had just been killed on the balcony of his hotel in Memphis. Mom shouted, “Oh No!” She quickly whispered to me to “be still” and sat in her chair next to Dad. Except for the voice of Walter Cronkite the room was silent. Mom and Dad were visibly shaken. They understood that this was a moment when the world stopped spinning.
The year 1968 was a difficult year. President Johnson had lost the support of his base over his handling of the Vietnam War. It was an election year, and he knew he could not win a second term, so he bowed out of the race. Bobby Kennedy was everyone’s favorite to win both the Democratic nomination and the election in November. Bobby was in Indianapolis at a campaign rally on the night of 4 April 1968 and broke the news to the gathered crowd. In his statement he said, “What we need in the United States is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.” Two months later, Bobby Kennedy was assassinated.
Fear and uncertainty gripped the country. Yet even in death the voice of Martin Luther King, Jr., could not be silenced. His belief that “none of us is free until all of us are free” motivates us today to pursue justice for all. Yes, we have made progress in the last fifty years, but we have so far left to go.
I hope we have learned lessons from the life and death of Martin Luther King, Jr. I would hope that those whose hearts are filled with hate learned that murder only makes the victim’s voice grow louder and clearer. However, hate has a way of preventing people from learning anything. I hope we learned that motivated citizens can be a force for change. When people march peacefully across a bridge, or down Pennsylvania Avenue, or on any state capitol building, their voices are heard and the electorate can be motivated to support them. Most of all, I hope we have learned that we are stronger when we are united in our diversity and not divided by the particulars of who we are.
Fifty years later we once again live in difficult political times. We have a president who seems to embrace all of the cultural ugliness that Dr. King fought so hard to eradicate. We have a congress that puts greed before justice. We have local authorities in communities across the country that buy into notions of bigotry. Yet there is a glimmer of hope. People of good conscience appear to be motivated now more than ever to combat the forces of ignorance and hatred. The voice of Martin Luther King, Jr., must be heard loud and clear today and every day.
https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_priz...
https://www.bluewatertales.com
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