Steve Frey
Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is Monday, and this would be a great time to reflect on how far we have come toward King’s Dream of racial unity.
Schools have the day off, a lot of businesses and organizations close, and stores, of course, have their obligatory extended sales over the long weekend; but what about the “spirit” of the Dream. Is King’s Dream alive in Radford and the New River Valley?
Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, some 50 years ago now. Since that time, we have had an African-American president. It was just announced that the black unemployment rate is the lowest it has been since the measure began in 1972.
We have black representatives and senators. Schools are completely integrated. Things are better racially, right?
The immediate response has to be an enthusiastic,”yes!” However, the events up the road in Charlottesville, where White Nationalists, the KKK and Neo-Nazis marched, must surely make us consider how far we have to go to truly live up to the creed that “all are created equal” and all have a fair chance to achieve “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
As a young high school teacher in Southside Virginia, I had the privilege of working at a school that was an amazing place to start a career. This was only a few years after some Virginia districts shut down rather than enforce the Supreme Court’s Brown vs. Board of Education ruling requiring desegregation.
It was just after “Massive Resistance” against integration in Virginia. White-only academies sprung up quickly and racial disparity and separation was at an extreme level.
My school, however, had a warm, caring environment for learning where students and teachers, black and white, worked together like there had never been an issue.
The school was about 60/40, black to white. In the many years I was there, before moving on to become an assistant principal, I can honestly say I did not witness one incident related to race among the students: no fights; no name calling; no examples of prejudicial behavior—nothing.
The faculty was totally integrated and everyone got along and worked together, acting as role models for the students. I was so proud of our students, but equally proud to work with their parents.
These white parents made a conscious decision to back public education and integration. Surely, there must have been tension in the community, and not sending their children to the private, “whites only academy” would be considered disloyal to their race by some.
Black parents also believed in integration and a fair and equal education for their children, and they sent their children to school with those hopes. They all did the right thing, and, because they did, we had an amazing school and an excellent environment for learning; an environment that was built on trust, kindness, high expectations and understanding.
I’m sure there must have been some issues for individuals in Radford during that period, too, just as there were in many parts of the country, but look at the city now!
Today, the school system’s students— black, white, brown—all of the colors of the rainbow, learn together, play on teams together and grow together. Radford has people of all nationalities, religions and backgrounds all working together in a community that values diversity and compassion for all of its fellow citizens. Yes, trust, kindness and understanding prevail.
That’s why it was so hard to see people march through Charlottesville, yelling hateful slogans and using the Confederate battle flag and the Nazi flag as symbols of their hatred and prejudice for people who are different from them.
Remember those neighbors, relatives and leaders who, through their vision and belief in our country, marched for equal rights for all of our citizens, brought boys and girls of all races and religions together to create schools we can all be proud of, and bravely stood up to be counted to do the right thing for our country in the 1960’s and 70’s. What were they thinking as they watched the horrible events in Charlottesville?
They were probably thinking the same thing we were: we still have not fulfilled King’s Dream. Yes, we have come a long way, but we have to remember that not everyone in our country has the same values that unite us and make our country a beacon of hope for people around the world.
Some still hate others because of the color of their skin, or their religion, or because they come from a different country or speak differently. Some of our fellow citizens think they are superior to people who are not like them.
They do not share the values of equal opportunity and diversity that the United States was built upon.
Patriotic Americans believe with all their hearts that all are created equal. They believe in Martin Luther King’s words from his “I Have a Dream” speech:
“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”
Now, it is our time. Now is the time to reject prejudice and hatred in any form. Now is the time for us to tell those who want to divide us that we will not allow that to happen. Now is the time to let freedom ring for all of us—in Radford, in Virginia, and across the United States. When we share freedom and opportunity with all of our fellow Americans, we free ourselves, too.
This Martin Luther King Day, we should all remember the “I Have a Dream” message about freedom:
“…When we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”’
Now is the time.
Steve Frey is a writer and CEO of Ascendant Educational Services.
