“Human Progress is neither automatic nor inevitable…Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.”
-Martin Luther King Jr
As we celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Day I find myself wishing I had known the man better. I was a child when he was assassinated. Racism, Civil Rights and politics were not something that we talked about at the dinner table, or anywhere else for that matter. We were a white lower-middle class family in the blue-collar part of town. Up on the hill were the college educated, many were engineers working in the defense industry for places like Grumman. Down the street a half a mile was a Latino neighborhood, mostly from Puerto Rico. Walk a little further and you entered the African American neighborhood. Segregation was apparent but we did not question it. It was likely that institutionalized discrimination was at work. Redlining and directing people to neighborhoods based on their race were common then. Despite rules against both today, such as the Fair Housing Act, these practices still persist. The different racial groups really did not intermingle much. There were clear racial and class distinctions. Technically I was on the “right” side of the tracks, by about 500 yards, but it was close enough to be assigned the “wrong side” label. Ray Rist’s: “Student Social Class and Teacher Expectations: The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy in Ghetto Education” was some years from being published but we were living it daily. One day I’ll tell you about our third grade class and the “Nudnik Table”. Guess who was assigned to that table…choo choo. There was a good deal of racial unrest and conflict between the groups particularly after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. I narrowly escaped getting my butt kicked on a number of occasions. Fortunately I had enough contacts to keep me relatively safe. We often played various games together like basketball and baseball, due to our close proximity to each other so I had some “ins”. It’s real important to be able to pass the ball to the right people especially if they are big.
Sometimes I think to myself, if I grew up in the 50’s in the South, as an adult would I have demanded an African American give up his or her seat on the bus? Would I have joined those who were taunting them at the Woolworths counter? Would I have driven the Freedom Riders off the road and set their bus on fire…or would I have been part of a mob that beat and murdered someone because they were Black? I would like to say no, that there is that part of me that has enough empathy, morality, and courage not to do so. It would have taken a lot of courage to stand up as it always does against bullies. But these hateful groups were more than your standard bullies. They were willing to take your life or at the very least isolate you and your family socially including seeing to it that you no longer had a job. And all of this comes with a more disturbing thought, is there anything I am doing now that limits people’s potential or does harm based on their race? What explicit or implicit bias do I carry with me that causes harm? This is an important question to consider if we are to truly treat people equitably. It is something to reflect on.
What was it like for Martin Luther King Jr. and others to deal with the anger and hatred they faced regularly directed at them not only from the average person, but a large section of the political system that supported such behavior. They were in danger physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually daily. What motivated him to continue on despite the daily threats; to adhere to a foundation of love, compassion and nonviolent action under such conditions? I find him to be one of the courageous people and most powerful critical thinker I have ever encountered, through his books and his speeches of course. One of the ways we fail ourselves, our families, and our students is by not spending more time exploring the life of Dr. King and people like him. There is a long list of kindred spirits who are trying to communicate something to us that we have trouble grasping. Their message cannot be understood by just reading it, we have to practice it so we can awaken to what they are trying to convey to us. So in honor of Dr. King and all the others who have sought and continue to work towards a more just, equitable, and peaceful world here is a good way to start. Familiarize yourself with the work of Dr. King. You can star t by listening to his “Beyond Vietnam” speech. It is riveting. From there, move on to Gandhi’s Autobiography.. How about researching: Malala, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Nadia Murad, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, and Tawakkul Karman for a start? Then perhaps Thich Nhat Hanh, who was nominated by Dr. King for the Nobel Peace Prize. And don’t stop there. Keep on going to wherever your curiosity takes you and you will see common themes and causes that they share. Many have religious/spiritual foundations that they drew strength from. But if religion turns you off then read them with a secular understanding of what they are saying. One of our goals is to make the practice of peace a secular practice and bring it into the mainstream while respecting its religious/spiritual foundation. You can also get involved in organizations that continue Dr. Kings work like the Poor People’s Campaign. We all can contribute something towards achieving our goal of a more peaceful world.
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