Martin Luther King

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Let me start out by say I am an older white guy. I have never been turned away from an eating Silhouette fedoraestablishment. I have never been told, if I can even get on the bus that I have to sit in the back. I have never stood in a place of business and looked to see a men’s restroom, women’s restroom and colored restroom, for both sexes. I can’t speak to the prejudice of a job interview. Further, I have never had anyone in my family go through the above experiences. 

The point I am trying to make is for me as a white person it is difficult to even begin to comprehend the impact that Reverend Martin Luther King had on the African-American community. We as white people often make statements as though we know, we get it and we feel your pain. As for me, all I can say is I have never been through the experiences, directly or indirectly, so I really can’t make such a statement. I can see a wrong, but I could never experience this one. No one could make me get it because of the color of my skin, I was denied.

I grew up at the end of the beginning of the civil rights movement; my parents discussed this with me every time something would appear on the news. I was taught by my parents to judge people by their character and how they treated me, nothing else. I was young enough to be open-minded and old enough to understand the impact this movement was having on the American Society during the early 1960’s. However, from my experiences of observing that time period, I know many in the white community had a real problem with Reverend Martin Luther King and the Civil Rights Movement. Conversely, from my historical research, I have learned that some within the African-American community had a problem with him not being radical enough. Martin Luther King knew in his heart and from watching Gandhi, the only way to open this door to equality and to ultimately win over enough within the overall American population was to lead a peaceful movement. Dr. King knew it was the only way, while it took him a long time, certainly longer than he wanted, it was through these actions that the people began to respect the peacefulness of his action. Yes, it clearly was the correct way to accomplish his goal.

Is there still prejudges, of course. But Martin Luther King had a dream and a society – both blacks and whites – benefited from it.  

4 thoughts on “Martin Luther King”

  1. I read the book, “Black Like Me” in’68 or ’69 – had a very huge impact on me, as close to experiencing what it meant to be black in that time as a white person could get.

  2. I can’t repeat the conversations that took place at our house. I swore when I grew up I woulnd’t be a racist. I too always liked to make my own decisions based on the individual, not their race.

    Later on , in Fort Lauderdale, FL., when our son was in elemtary school and our daughter was in middle school, we all experienced reverse racism. We taught our children not to be racist. imagine our surprise when our children were treated horribly, because they were white. They were bullied, threatened and attacked. It was so bad I had to walk my son to school everyday and be back to walk home with him. I was intimidated sometimes too, especially when there was a group all ready to beat up my son.

    We used their experience to reinforce how deplorable racism is. They got to experience it themselves, so they know what it feels like.

  3. Great post. I admire the attitude of your parents in how they raised you. That helped to make you the fine man you are today. I wish everyone understood the concept of accepting others based on their character, rather than their outside appearance. I just subbed in a classroom prior to Martin Luther King Day. I had one black student in my class, and the rest were all white. We had some very interesting discussions as we read a story on the topic. Kids are always much more accepting than most adults. I hope we continue to make strides in this area.

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