I was born in 1960. One of my earliest memories was watching President John F. Kennedy's funeral on television. As a child, I could not understand why all the TV stations were carrying the same program. "What was in that box the flag was over?" I thought.
As I grew, I noticed many upheavals in society being reported in the news, including the civil rights movement of the 1960s. I asked about the racial tensions, and my parents explained the causes as best they could to a small child, but with a young, innocent mind, I could not understand.
I remember sitting in a wooden fort that a neighbor had built for his son, thinking about all the conflicts over race, wondering, "What's the big deal, why all the fighting?" I was baffled why race should be an issue.
The greatest leader of the civil rights movement was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Tragically, on April 4, 1968, while standing on the balcony of a motel room in Memphis, Tennessee, he was assassinated. He was to lead a protest march in support of striking garbage workers the next day.
Dr. King and countless others made so many sacrifices during the civil rights movement. Many were beaten, threatened, jailed sprayed with fire hoses, fired from jobs, and they endured so many other abuses. Others besides Dr. King lost their lives.
What impressed me most about Dr. King was that he had tremendous compassion for the people who were poisoned by bigotry, who were committing the crimes against people in the civil rights movement. I also had equal admiration for the peaceful, non-violent methods Dr. King used.
For those of you reading this opinion article who are at least a few years younger than I am, you might not realize how different the legal environment was in this country before the federal legislation that resulted from the work of Dr. King and others.
It was legal to say to someone during a job interview, "I'm sorry, I don't hire black people." It was legal to say, "I don't rent to Latinos." It was legal to say, "We don't accept Jews at this school." There was no prohibition against denying people service in hotels, restaurants, theaters, or any other public place because of race, religion, or any ethnic factor.
I remember that as a young teen, my father showed me an ad he found in a local magazine while doing research. The ad was printed in 1948 and was for newly built houses. The ad had a clause that the homes could only be sold to white Christians. Of course, there always have been people whose hearts were free of bigotry and who treated others fairly, but it was a very different legal environment then.
On a personal note, I grew up in a Jewish family, and my wife, who is a gift in my life, is African-American; her family is from Panama. Until a 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision, interracial marriages were still illegal in 15 states. Back then, my wife and I would have been "criminals" for merely getting married.
The year 1968 was full of personal upheavals in my family. To name just a couple, my aunt had died, and my parents became guardians for my cousins. I was hit by a car and was in a body cast from the waist down. As I consider the circumstances, perhaps some sort of guardian angel must have been protecting me. I could have easily been killed.
Among these events in the lives of my family, we heard the news of the assassination of Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. It was a solemn and heavy day.
Monday, Jan. 21, is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I hope that people across the United States will take time to reflect on the legacy of Dr. King. As Mahatma Ghandi had done decades earlier in India, he showed that lasting change could be made by awakening people's hearts and consciences and by using peaceful methods.
There is a wealth of information available about Dr. King in libraries, book stores, and on the Internet, but do not wait until the 21st to visit a library, since most government facilities, including libraries, will be closed.
I believe it is also important to learn the lessons taught by history. When you watch, listen to, or read reports about appeals for human rights across the world—the peaceful, unarmed people who are being beaten, tortured, or murdered—those are the victims. The armed people performing the beatings, torture, and murders—those are the oppressors.
This sounds like an elementary observation, but so many times in the media, the oppressors manage to portray themselves as somehow being victimized by peaceful, unarmed people.
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