It seems like it was such a long time ago – Martin Luther King’s assassination – well over half my life ago. King had come to Memphis to march with the striking sanitation workers. It was a difficult time. LBJ had passed the Civil Rights Legislation, and the South was in turmoil as "forced" integration and school busing turned our part of the world upside down. King had expanded the Civil Rights Movement into a war on poverty, into the anti-war movement, and the country was exploding. King’s non-violent approach was being challenged by Black Power and Malcolm X. Those of us in Memphis knew just how explosive it was. We had just elected a conservative Mayor who was unwilling to negotiate with the strikers and the tensions were palpable.
It was a polarized, angry time. And it doesn’t feel like we’ve ever really escaped from the divisiveness of those days. While Dr. King has become an American Icon as he should have, the symbol is different from the man of the times. I expect that’s always true. History can be a strange judge – almost always simplifying the character based on their overall impact. In the case of people like Martin Luther King, history has been forgiving. At the time of his death, his movement felt like it was drowning in the sea of violence that flooded the country.
What do you think Martin luther King would feel knowing that voters in our country voted for President Barack Obama. I found it thrilling to watch the crowd when Obama came outside to make a speech to the crowd acknowledging that he had won the presidential election. The tears of joy were on many faces that night in and out of houses across the nation. The thing I find so upsetting is the reaction of those who are doing everything they can to derail his presidency. It doesn’t seem to matter that it not only hurts a president but it hurts a their country too. I think this way of thinking didn’t just start with Clinton but it has gotten worse with President Clinton and any other Democratic president that dares to run and win. What happened to love of country and putting aside difference for the good of the country.?