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Ruralite Cafe: Published 01/18/01By Lisa Majors-Duff News EditorMLK Day brings back bleak memory |
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It's been 12 years, yet I'm still haunted by a statement a classmate made to me
while we were studying for a test on "Hamlet." Since "Shakespeare and His Age" was an upper level course when I was in school at Western Carolina University, I and most of my classmates were on the verge of graduating and entering the working world. And since most of us were studying this particular Shakespearean tragedy for the umpteenth time, the study session soon turned from the prince of Denmark to our hopes for the future.
Most of my classmates were not just English majors, but English education majors. When they got together, they talked about what it might be like once they took control of their own classroom full of students. Though I was not planning to go into the teaching profession, I joined in their conversations mainly because I was in awe of anyone with enough guts to get up in front of room full of young minds and attempt to fill them with knowledge. To this day the task seems daunting to me. But my feelings about one individual with plans to enter the noble profession of teaching changed dramatically during this conversation, which went something like this: "I know when I become a teacher in Greensboro I'll have blacks in my classroom," she said. "I'll have to put up with them being there, but I'll make them sit in the back of the room and I'll just ignore them." Twelve years later I remember this conversation. I remember the knot that formed in the pit of my stomach when I realized she wasn't joking. I can still imagine what my face must have looked like when she said she'd been taught to treat blacks as less than human by her parents. To this day I pray she chose a path other than teaching. With the passing of another Martin Luther King Jr. Day, I find myself thinking back on this conversation and wondering why I didn't say something to someone, why I didn't run as fast as I could to the dean's office and rat this "person" out. After all, she was just months away from directing a class full of elementary-aged minds, but only teaching a select few. Today I know I'd say something about what this student said, first to her. I'd tell her that her parents were wrong to bring her up hating African-Americans, that every child deserves a superior education and that it would be her job to see that the children in her classes were treated equally. If she continued to insist that she would be the judge, jury and hangman for every black child under her control, I'd find someone with the power to prevent her from becoming a teacher. But 12 years ago I was a college senior who would admit to being sheltered from such things as the evils of racism. Sure, I'd been in the room when people around me told racial jokes, I'd seen "Eyes on the Prize" and I'd learned that Rosa Parks started the Civil Rights Movement simply by sitting in the front seat of a city bus. But I'd never come face-to-face with someone who so blatantly admitted to hating others because of the color of their skin. The real tragedy of that day turned out not to be "Hamlet," but the fact that this teacher-wanna-be felt she'd have to "put up with" African-American children in her future classroom. Though the stinging words of one classmate continue to cause me pain, the words this week of community members gathered to celebrate the memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. reminded me why she was the minority. Here is a sample from the majority - those who believe in King's message: "Most of all he was a Christian man who wanted love and peace among all nations and to bring people together to love one another." - Ida Bryson "This day is to honor someone who has done a lot for us. I've thought a lot about Mr. King over the years, visited his church (Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta) and his memorial (also in Atlanta)." - Wilma Simpson "He was a real fine man. All races seemed to like him. We never had any race troubles here in Jackson County like they did in Mississippi and Alabama. Here we are such a small place and everybody knows everybody." - Ray Miller "His dream lives in the heart of our community and in the children. He believed in all races, not just one. He was a kingdom builder. His main objective was that of love, unity and peace." Margaret Miller "Because of Martin Luther King, we all get a chance to come together, to get along, no matter who you are. He gave us a better opportunity to get to know each other." Deron Fowler, age 14 "Without him I might not be doing what I'm doing or going to school where I'm going. He fought hard for equal rights." Darius Bryson, Smoky Mountain High senior "Because of what a good man he was, all of us have the chance to get together in fellowship and share. He tried to show all of us how to get along; it wasn't just a racial thing." - Carlose Howard, age 13 "We have come a long way in becoming first-class citizens, but we still have a long way to go. We can't sit back on our laurels and do nothing." - Victoria Casey McDonald, Smoky Mountain Elementary teacher "Unity. That sums it up." - Sherman Fowler "To me, Martin Luther King means hope." - Emma Lou Bryson "He was a Moses." - Yvonne McDonald "Martin Luther King was a person who gave his life, not only for black people, but for people of all races." Courtney Bryson, SMHS student "He was a man who loved all races and who was committed to everyone. He knew that to first love everyone, you had to love God. He raised the consciousness of every individual, a consciousness of what it meant to be human, and he left a legacy for us to march on. So let us march till the victory is won." - The Rev. Eugene Smith |
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