SELMA – 1965

America gave him a federal holiday in 1983.  Not all states complied; many objected.  Why should a “white” nation recognize a black rabble-rouser and trouble maker?  A few raised questions regarding Dr. King’s moral character in order to discredit the work he had done for the advancement of the civil rights of black people.  But, with the federal government’s mandates regarding civil rights, justice and equality, strident racism within American society appeared to be a relic of the by-gone days when signs at drinking fountains and lunch counters told black people they were not good enough or American enough to share those same facilities.  We white people probably felt that we had somehow been miraculously cleansed of the centuries of hatred and intolerance leveled on other citizens who just happened to be a varying, darker shade of our skins.  Yeah, the government gave them a holiday, that ought to keep them quiet for a while, we’re cool.

Guess what folks?  Those issues which were a festering sore on our collective, white American soul are back in full force.  It’s as if we learned nothing from the horrors of slavery, the Jim Crow laws, the voting obstruction, the job and housing discrimination, the burning crosses, the hooded cowards raising havoc with people of color, Jews, Catholics, gays, Muslims, i.e. anybody who does not have a white, European, Christian pedigree.

My  initial writing for this post, briefly detailing the lives of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and U.S. Representative John Lewis of Georgia, failed to  convey the anger and disgust which is building inside me today.  The words which I wrote were yada-yada-yada achievement reporting from Wikipedia that somehow seemed to be sanitizing the blood, sweat, and tears of thousands of protesters, marchers, and victims of American intolerance and injustice.  They gave their souls, minds and lives to a cause which should never be summed up in a few accolades for a job well done or a holiday once a year with parades and linen sales at the local WalMart.  Those civil rights warriors deserve much, much more from us.

And we see some groups celebrating today as a day of service, a time of being kind to others.  I like that.  I think MLK, Jr. and Rosa Parks would approve.  Maybe we could also take a few minutes to hear Dr. King’s speeches, the incredible urgings to non-violent action, the famous “I’ve been to the mountaintop”, and Bobby Kennedy’s announcement in Indianapolis to his mostly black crowd that their leader had been murdered in Memphis.  Yes, that seems to be the least we can do in remembrance.  It’s all on YouTube.

SELMA

The movie SELMA is a 2014 production which is the true story of the tumultuous 3 month period in 1965, when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr led a dangerous campaign to secure equal voting rights in the face of violent opposition.  The epic march from Selma to Montgomery culminated in President Johnson signing the Voting Rights Act of 1965.