I was a high school junior on April 4, 1968, That was the day Martin Luthor King jr. was assasinated in Memphis. I really can't remember anything about the day. Yet, I vividly remember the day JFK was killed in 1963, Perhaps it was the difference in news coverage of the events. the killing of a sitting US president would generate far more coverage than the murder of a civil rights leader. But it is more than that.
We lived in a far more racist society in the 60's than we do today. It was understood in our small towns on eastern Long Island that "negros" were farm laborers for the most part and were grudgingly accepted by most whites as long as they understood that they were second class citizens. We were a world away from the civil rights movement and most of us, myself included were not about to put our lower middle class identity at risk to fight for equal rights for blacks.
Today's high school juniors are as far removed from MLK's death as my class was from the first world war. For many, today is a respite from the rigors of academia. For a few, there will be brief acknowledgement of how far we have yet to go in the matter of racial equality. As 1968 slides further into the rear view mirror of history, I hope future generations will join MLK on the mountain top and see into the promised land.
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