I remember back in high school, my government teacher, Georgia Hardwick, said that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. knew he was living on borrowed time the minute he started pushing back. Or shall I say that he didn’t push back. The authorities were wanting a reason to use force but by non-violent resistant, they will be remembered as the agitators.
When I was working in Americus, Ga., there was a monument in the Sumter County Courthouse, which also housed the county jail. If I remember correctly, either in 1962 o 1963, King and others had been arrested. The plaque on the wall was dedicated to his legacy as a civil rights activist. But I’m sure the same sentiment wasn’t spoken the day he was booked in the jail. Nor do I think many people in that county felt it even needed to be placed.
In the 25 years since I left that area, I heard they built a brand new courthouse. They needed to. There wasn’t much room for anyone to think in that building with all the offices and attempts to add on an additional courtroom and other facilities. But Sumter County is about 50 percent black or African-American. It’s about 39 percent White or Caucausian. So, yes, I once lived in a community where I was the minority. Yet, many would still wish the Confederacy was ongoing there.
In a weird and twist example of irony, a real estate developer was able to get the streets named after famous World War II generals, admirals and other popular figures. Streets were named after Gen. George Patton, Adm. Chester Nimitz and even Edward O’Hare, a Medal of Honor pilot. The sad fact that many people of color fought bravely and gave their lives in WWII only to turn around and see the government screw them over on benefits showed the times needed to change.
Dr. King wasn’t the only one who stood up for civil rights. There was Vernon Johns, Rosa Parks, Medger Evers and even Malcolm X. But King became the face of the Civil Rights movement. In recent years, there have been attempts to smear his legacy more than when he was alive. We’re not perfect but the same people who look everywhere for one blemish on someone’s record seem to think we should overlook the major problems of others who are currently in charge of this government.
With what’s going on in Minneapolis and surrounding areas is an attempt to paint the people as bad when it’s actually the members of ICE who are bad. Thery’re no differently than the people who billy-clubed John Lewis and others who were just trying to pray. They’re no different than the cops with fire hoses and German Shepherds treating people as if they were pests.
Dr. King was willing to die for all the people in the world to be treated better. ICE and MAGA are crybabies upset that someone else is being treated better. It’s the same rhetoric of people who were alive during the 1960s and 1970s. They were okay with everything as long as people knew their place. We’re probably never have total equality but the closer we are to it, the more others will try to stop it.
Zane Says 