I remember reading some time ago a quite lengthy, but informative, history of the United States.
This week, I read again of the struggles of the black population to overcome the indignities of racial segregation. It is an ugly era in our history; we don’t like to be reminded of the lynchings, the existence of segregated water fountains and bathrooms, the dogs and firehoses that were set on fellow citizens, the riots that destroyed cities, and the National Guard that was required to insure safety of young black students as they entered the portals of schools where angry whites spit on them.
Throughout these bad times, many fought the good fight but one man stood, sometimes alone, in the forefront of the fight for equality of race and justice for all.
Martin Luther King was the architect of non-violent protest. He was vilified by the southern white establishment, but his methods were proven to be ultimately successful. He was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, but he paid the price for his work.
King was jailed 29 times and ultimately paid with his life when he was assassinated by a sniper’s bullet in Memphis, Tenn., in 1968. He was only 39 years old.
He was better educated than most of his detractors, skipping two grades and graduating from Morehouse College at the age of 19. He later earned a Ph.D. in Divinity Studies from Boston University.
He came to prominence for organizing the now-famous Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 at the age of 26. He led the boycott of the bus line for 385 days before blacks won the right to sit where they pleased.
Nonviolent sit-ins at lunch counters and train stations were met by violence. Freedom Bus riders - 13 of them, six whites and seven blacks riding a bus throughout the south - saw their bus burned and some were killed. And King persevered.
He helped organize the famous March on Washington in 1963 and gave a speech, “I Have a Dream,” which ranks among the finest pieces of oratory in our history. I can’t give you that text because it is copyrighted in the name of the King family but I want to include his writing from another time.
In 1963, King was jailed in Birmingham, Ala. When criticized by other black pastors for pushing too fast, he replied with a letter that I urge you to read. “Letter from Birmingham Jail” is an example of the eloquence of this all-too-human man who fought the good fight during those turbulent times.
There have been many documentaries aired, and books written, about the life and times this sometimes-controversial man. This is not meant to be a lecture written for general edification.
On this national holiday, I hope to engender some reflection on the agonies of segregation staining our past and to create an honest assessment of the work that remains to be done.
Especially today ... NOITAGERGES is segregation spelled backward. Either way, it makes no sense.
John Klumpp
Sparta