editorial
King’s message one
of action and love
Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream that one day
humanity would rise up above the hatred of racism, the suf
fering of poverty, and the mass violence of war. He had a
dream that one day freedom would ring “for all of God’s
children.”
But King had more than just a dream. He also had a plan
of action, and it was this plan of action that sent fear and
anger into the hearts of many Americans, just as it also sent
out love and inspiration to others. Many of America’s most
prominent leaders liked King’s dream more than they liked
his active pursuit to achieve it.
“Get the weapon of nonviolence, the breastplate of
righteousness, the armor of truth, and just keep marching,”
King said, and that’s just what he and thousands of others
did: the restaurant sit-in in Atlanta in I960; street
demonstrations in Albany. Georgia in 1961; the explosive
Birmingham protests of 1963; the Selma. Alabama march of
1965. The list goes on. King marched because,“When you
have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at
will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim and when
you’ve seen the vast majority of your black brothers and
sisters smother in the air-tight cage of poverty. . . the human
personality cries out and says ‘I can take it no more’.”
The marches and protests led by King, coupled with the
struggles of blacks thoughout the country for equal rights
and freedom, led to the official signing of the 1964 Civil
Ri^fit^/Sf and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. But King didn't
stop there. He continued to expand his struggle for justice
until it embodied the needs of oppressed peoples
everywhere.
It was when King began to link the struggles of oppress
ed peoples worldwide that he began to be attacked as anti
American. a communist and a traitor to his nation. But that
didn’t stop him. On April 4. 1967, King declared that the
United States is “the greatest purveyor of violence in the
world today,” and accused it of “cruel manipulation of the
poor.” King stated that U.S. troops “test our latest weapons
on the peasants of South Vietnam, just as the Germans tested
out new medicine and new tortures in the concentration
camps of Europe.” He urged Americans to become conscien
tious objectors to the war in Vietnam.
Just as King didn't hesitate to speak out for truth and
justice, he also never hesitated to speak out for love and
forgivenesss. As Americans around the country celebrate his
birthday today, it is King’s message of an unending struggle
for justice and his unending offering of love that must be
remembered the most.
King declared that “nonviolence is the answer to the
crucial political and moral questions of our time,” and that
“the foundation of such a method is love.” Perhaps more
than anything else. King taught that even in a world where
injustice thrives and seems to prosper, one must never give
up the struggle for social change. What he said in Oslo in
1964 is even more important today: “I refuse to accept the
cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down the
militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruc
tion. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love
will have the final word in reality. . . .1 still believe that we
shall overcome.”
As we think back on the life of Martin Luther King Jr. to
day, let us remember him for what he was: a man of action, a
man of love, and a man of hope. Furthermore, let us take his
message and put it to action in our own lives.
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letters
Bad letters
I strongly believe that this
"letters” column should con
tinue to serve as a free forum for
students' ideas. But I am getting
sick of reading the hateful,
violent, bigoted crap that keeps
appearing in the name of the
"Christian" perspective on
"homosexuals" (sic). I am go
ing to stop reading this column
if minimal editing and good
judgment does not begin
weeding out those bent letters
supporting violence against gay
people.
Brad Hall's letter (Jan. 8) goes
too far to print. In it. Hall ad
vocates that gay people should
“die out or shrink in numbers
and be destroyed.”
That letter is disgusting,
repulsive, and — 1 might add —
typical of the intolerant “Chris
tian” hatred expressed by Hall
and others whose letters have
failed to understand or accept
the nicely diverse body of
humanity.
By printing such demented
diatribes, the Emerald becomes
an accomplice. I seriously
doubt you would print letters
calling for violence against any
racial or religious minority;
why then are similar letters
directed against gay people ac
cepted? Your policy is “to print
all letters containing fair com
ment. . .” Do you deem Hall's
call to violence ‘‘fair
comment?”
This practice on the part of
the Emerald is particularly in
sensitive. given the fact that a
recent rash of threats against
gay people have been received
by gay rights organizations and
emerald
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displayed in public places
locally. Perhaps a more respon
sible approach for the Kmerald
when receiving letters of this
type would be to notify the
police and organizations in
terested in investigating these
threats.
Douglas Pyle
Editor. Mid-Vally Link
Don’t criticize?
Ron Munion demonstrated in
his letter (ODE. Jan. 11) a deep
misunderstanding of the pur
pose of protest in America. In
short, he said that since
America is a good place to live,
we shouldn't criticize or protest
any of our country's wrongs.
A letter to the opposite effect
could easily be written, listing a
few of America’s shortcomings
(rampant racism. 30 million
Americans in poverty, op
pressive foreign policy, rapid
depletion of natural
resources) and concluding.
“Not so good, is it. boasters?”
A more realistic, more con
structive view, however, is to
acknowledge both the right and
the wrong in America, and to
try to change those things that
are wrong. Protesters bring at
tention to these shortcomings,
in hopes that we can change
them, and therefore should not
he dismissed as “the dumbest
people in the world.”
Or would we call Martin
Luther King. Jr. a “dumb
complainer?”
Dan Thoma
German
Censorship
In Wednesday's Emerald
(ODE. Jan. 9) Janice Sunseri
criticized what she saw as my
rationalization of Newspeak.
Unfortunately, she has much to
learn about satire: satire states
the opposite of what it means.
When I said that language con
trols thought, 1 was merely
rephrasing those who said that
w'hen we say "men" it
automatically excludes women,
and therefore the sign in the
EMU subliminally told women
they had no value. 1 agree with
her; such a stand is nonsense.
I also agree with her that
generic words such as
“firefighter” are fine words.
What bothers me is that we cen
sure and censor people who use
words like "man” to mean
humanity. Mark Twain referred
to Jim in Huckleberry Finn as a
"nigger.” Does that make him a
racist? No, because that was
what blacks were called when
he was writing. Intelligence,
though, has not stopped his
book from being banned (at
Mark Twain Elementary
School, among others) nor has it
saved the EMU sign. What we
will soon have, according to
this trend, is a society that
bums books that they don’t
agree with. Is that right?
Ms. Sunseri, by taking my
sarcasm seriously, has merely
echoed some of my thoughts,
while saying I'm irrational. She
has also missed my intent: who
is to say what is sexist and what
should be banned?
Brian Moore
English
Unimaginative
I read to the end of Don
Bishoff’s column on the
mayor's inaugural speech
(Register Guard. Jan. 9) looking
for the tongue-in-cheek. There
was none. Not a hint of irony.
Not a trace of satire. Obie rises
from Bishoff’s verbiage as a
near-charismatic figure who
speaks with "ringing phrases in
the style...of John F. Ken
nedy.” a leader whose tenure
will be hailed as the "Obie
Era.”
The person on TV at the hour
of the inaugural speech was in
troduced as Obie. sounded like
Obie, and had Obie's blank ex
pression. I naturally assumed it
was Obie. But the TV Obie was
no orator, delivered no resoun
ding phrases. The TV Obie read
his lines in a monotone, heap
ing banality upon generality,
interlarding the pile with
cliches. I expected the Center’s
stagehands to rush out with
shovels to keep the audience
from suffocating as the slither
ing accumulation grew.
If Obie had made more cam
paign speeches, the voters
might have seen him for the
unimaginative creature that he
is, and we would have been
spared his mayoralty. Conceal
ed bacon fat is more inspiring. It
has possibilities.
Why is Bishoff kissing Obie’s
shoes? Perhaps the question is
unfair. He may not be stooping
that low.
Guido Palandri
Library