HOPE â The intersections between the lives of 10 local residents and the 1963 âI Have a Dreamâ speech by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. have spanned decades to produce lessons about Dr. Kingâs dream of racial harmony and civic integrity which endure.
\r\nThe Black History Month discussion at Yerger Middle School on Feb. 20 focused upon âPerspectives on the Dreamâ as they were realized for each panel member either growing up in Hope, or now living or working here.\r\n
\r\nModerator Eighth Judicial District Judge Randy Wright laid the foundation for the discussion by noting that Kingâs speech was delivered after a century of neglect of freedoms guaranteed to black Americans by the U. S. Constitution.\r\n
\r\nâFor one hundred years, our country basically ignored those amendments,â Wright said.\r\n
\r\nKingâs speech was a defining moment for the legacy of civil rights in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, he said.\r\n
\r\nâI do not believe that would have happened without this speech,â Wright said.\r\n
\r\nPrefaced by an historical presentation by Mike Simpson, President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace National Parks Service Training Specialist, the hour-long discussion was sponsored by the Hope Public Schools.\r\n
\r\nFormer Hope Mayor Floyd Young said he was a prime example of how those lessons came into practice in his life, although Young never personally heard King speak… and, had not taken an opportunity to do so in his senior year at Arkansas AM&N College (University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff) in Pine Bluff.\r\n
\r\nKing was scheduled to deliver the baccalaureate address to the senior class in the summer of 1963.\r\n
\r\nâI was struggling with some things,â Young said. âI planned on going home and getting a job.â\r\n
\r\nSeeking work in Hempstead County prior to becoming a teacher, Young said he began to see first-hand how the discriminations charged against American society in 1963 worked in daily life.\r\n
\r\nâThatâs when I first started paying attention to what Dr. Martin Luther King had to say,â Young noted.\r\n
\r\nLater, in his first teaching position at Marked Tree, it occurred to him what the âsplit sessionâ school year meant for black students.\r\n
\r\nâIn the summer, when the cotton was ready, the black students would be picking cotton,â Young said. âI started reading more about what Dr. Martin Luther King said.â\r\n
\r\nThose lessons embedded in the Black Baptist tradition of Kingâs ministerial work still ring true panelist Tarona Armstrong said.\r\n
\r\nâIf you look at the speech, he was fighting for voting rights, housing, work,â Armstrong, superintendent of the President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site, National Parks Service, said.\r\n
\r\nâWeâre still doing that work right now, tonight, discussing this,â she said.\r\n
\r\nKingâs âFree at last, Free at last, Great God a-mighty, We are free at lastâ quotation from the Black spiritual song was pivotal to the message across ethnic boundaries, Hope High School business teacher Sheila Hopson said.\r\n
\r\nâItâs a wonderful song,â Hopson said. âSometimes, for something to happen, you have to say it out loud.â\r\n
\r\nHHS junior Davionna Perkins said the quotation represented the almost prophetic spirit which King embodied.\r\n
\r\nâHe had hope,â Perkins said.\r\n
\r\nKingâs initial theme in what was originally planned as a four-minute speech revolved around what he characterized as the âuncashed checkâ given blacks by the âbank of justiceâ in America.\r\n
\r\nâI believe what he was talking about is that black people and white people, the blacks didnât have the same opportunities as the white people,â Charity Baptist Church Pastor Jessie Henry observed. âI think thatâs what he was saying about their not receiving a fair share of opportunity.â\r\n
\r\nSimpson offered a stark illustration.\r\n
\r\nâI was going to grade school in Mobile County, Alabama,â Simpson said. âWhen we would see the buses coming in there would be a yellow one, another yellow one, and then a blue one. And, the blue one was the black kids.â\r\n
\r\nSimpson said he did not understand the difference, noting he thought it might be nice to ride a blue bus rather than the same yellow bus as everyone else.\r\n
\r\nâI never really understood the magnitude of the concept that if the black kids wanted to ride to school, they had to ride in the blue bus,â he said.\r\n
\r\nArmstrong agreed with Henryâs assessment.\r\n
\r\nâI think, over the years, the question has been: Are we upholding what is in the Constitution of the United States?â she said.\r\n
\r\nPerhaps, the most famous line in the speech, where King refers to his children and looks to the time when they will not be judged â…by the color of their skin, but by the content of their characterâ evoked a generational observation from Hope High School Career Coach Kayla Jones.\r\n
\r\nJones said she learned much of Kingâs legacy from stories related by her father about the era.\r\n
\r\nâYou have to realize that I wasnât even thought of back then,â Jones quipped. âSo, I didnât have a great understanding, but I could put two and two together.â\r\n
\r\nKing emphasized that a divided America could not survive, noting, âWe cannot walk alone;â which required vigilance against self-satisfaction for both blacks and whites.\r\n
\r\nFormer Hope Mayor Dennis Ramsey noted the generation of segregation in Hope has since passed from the scene; but, the import of Kingâs speech and mark upon the national conscience was not taught to his generation when he was in high school.\r\n
\r\nâThe speech was never discussed in class,â Ramsey said.\r\n
\r\nHe cautioned against regression brought about by self-satisfaction, noting the need for change was instilled in his generation as it became part of the leadership of civic life in Hope.\r\n
\r\nâWe canât go back; weâve got a ways to go; but, weâve come a long way,â Ramsey said.\r\n
\r\nRev. Henry pointed out King worked in Memphis, Tenn., in support of black sanitation workers, taking a risk where many others might not have done so.\r\n
\r\nâHe didnât have to go to Memphis,â he said. âIf he didnât go, who would have cared about those sanitation workers?â\r\n
\r\nEveryone agreed there is no equal to King now in the national dialogue on civil rights.\r\n
\r\nâYouâre not going to find someone with the same charisma and the same mentality,â Hope Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Bobby Hart point out. \r\n
\r\nDr. Hart said Kingâs arrest in Birmingham, Ala., compounded the impact of the 1963 speech in what was, at the time, a crucial presidential election year.\r\n
\r\nâEveryone that was arrested with him was released within 24 hours,â Hart said.\r\n
\r\nSenator John F. Kennedy, of Massachusetts, the eventual winner of the presidency, contacted Kingâs wife, Coretta Scott King, and learned first-hand the issues which led to the development of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.\r\n
\r\nâHad Mister Kennedy not taken that step, I donât know what might have happened,â Hart added. âBut, there are others.â\r\n
\r\nThe âothers,â Hart said must be everyone, ready to speak out against social injustice.\r\n
\r\nâBut, if we donât find those people who will speak for the little guy, eventually, those same issues will come to life,â he said. âIâm not trying to be a fear-monger; but, we have to speak up for the little guy.â\r\n
\r\nArmstrong pointed to the âLittle Rock Nine,â who as teenagers were the students to bring integration to Little Rock Central High School, and today remain as the ambassadors of that cause.\r\n
\r\nâThey, still today, are working on our behalf,â she said.\r\n
\r\nHenry said King spoke in visionary terms.\r\n
\r\nâHis dream was a vision from God that he had,â he said. âThere are people out there, but they are afraid to make history.â\r\n
\r\nHenry said there are personal roles each American must play in bringing Kingâs âdreamâ to fruition.\r\n
\r\nâI think in our everyday lives we can be negative or positive,â he said.\r\n
\r\nHe pointed to the integration of Hope High School as an example.\r\n
\r\nâAll the other schools in the area had problems; we never had a problem,â Henry said. âWe never had a problem, black and white. We had a championship football team that brought the school together.â\r\n
\r\nBut, it was Young who brought the conclusion home to everyone in quoting Scripture.\r\n
\r\nâParents have to tell their children the truth,â he said. âSpeak the truth. âAnd, you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.ââ\r\n
