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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 16, 1995)
EDITORIAL “/ have a dream... ” At the forefront of the nonviolent civil rights move ment was Martin Luther King. Jr., heading his battle with dedication and determination,commitment and courage. Justice and equality, and inspiring many to follow. The following is an excerpt from his speech, delivered Aug. 28. HJ63. in Washington. DC: “ ... i say to you today, my friends, so oven though wo face the difficulties of today and tomorrow. I still have a dream It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream, I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to lx* self-evident: that all men an* created <*qua!.‘ I have a dream that one day. on the red hills of Geor gia. sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will bo able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. ! have a dream that one day oven the state of Missis sippi. a state sweltering with the heat of oppression, will lx* transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character... I have a dream that one day ‘every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall bo made low. the rough places will be made plains, and the crooked places will bo made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.* This is our hope. 1'his is the faith that l go back to the South with. With this faith wo will be able to how out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith wo will l>n able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith wo will be able to work together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. And this will bn the dav. This will Im> iho day when all of God's children will be able lo sing with new moan ing 'My country *tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing Land where my father died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, lot freedom ring * And if America is to bo a great nation this must become true So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from tjje mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! l-et freedom rind from the snowcapped Rockies of Col orado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California! Hut not only that; let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia! let freedom ring from Look out Mountain of Tennessee. l-ot freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mis sissippi. From every* mountainside, let freedom ring. And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every stato 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, wilt he able to join hands and sing in the words of that old Negro spiritual. Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, wo are free at last!"’ Oregon Daily Emerald p o eo* hm tu6cmc omzoH Yh« tV*pon D&fy £m*e*M ,* pwl^4k/'«d dM*i Mondaty through F r«My during !h* tChPOf v««r and To**d*f and Thursday <Mmg me *wmm#r by the Oregon 0*<5y Em •#««<) FabAtHnoCo, me at m#Unrvarirty of Oagon, t ug*nft. Oregon tty* immwM operate* mdapendantfy o< the Unrveftrty wt* oftka* at Su«# 300 o* the t #tJ MamoreH Union and a a memb#* a* the Aaaocselect Pre** The f mar aid a pfoeie property The rar*o»-af o» w*e c*» paper* a proaecutat** by !•«» Editor-m-Chie* K*fy So*0 Managing Editor Editorial Editor Newt Art Edttor Freelance ltutor David Thom Rotot*e Hmtvm J«0 Nafeay to* BaAnatfu New* Editor Sport* Editor Supplement* Editor Might Editor Rebecca Mer« Ofit MuU Tf»*ta Ho*t Kafy Soto Aftaociate Editor*: Frtpdanch yon Carp. Sfutort Cx»*mm«rtt-At-ftvhmr Mi*;. atone Edward*. Cdm^Hjinay T dtany Sm*m higher fduceaon AdwmaiaMipn Hew* Staff Steve Aabury Amy Co*«mUi P»J Oa» Amy i Obev^V Tooha (\fx» v*eher. Fhimo Fontana,. G»y*e Forman. Ohn*topher Fo*. Man Gorton. Gary (Vust. jo« Harwood Kn* Henry. Trevor Kearney. Shannon Ktduft Atari K richer Sutanne Man a Me Tyre Ban Meet* n Natato» Montgomery A- ••* W w< K;> Ce*»w«r Po*-*j S*M»<iy Hftrey hate Satxxmn, Paui Van So**. Mdee; Tomeofea. 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HA f - nCfJ V*> V ■ -.A<w/v r v ACwtrrfO rmr ryecm*^ rt/ff 5 TotiY WAS Jyjr 4 4ABU ■ COMMENTARY Dr. King’s life history lesson moiOi rofa s the curtains were drawn on the post-World War ii JL JLeni in the United States i new movement was brewing in the South, Large numbers of black Anwnuns were tieginning to organize and collaborate for social reform The slave revolts, underground railroad and protest organizations of earlier times served as the impetus for what would come to Ik* known as the Cavil Rights Movement The 1 USDs and 10ftOs emerged under a veil of cxmfruntation, big otry. and violence A savage tide of violence ami oppression through a land teeming with hatred ami fear was unleashed in 1955 after a young boy. Kmmett Till, w-as the victim of a brutal, unpunished murder Baton Rouge. Ixc was the set ting for the first major civil rights Little Blacks successfully inches tratisi a mass boycott of the city's segregated bus system. Authori ties were forced to make conces sions to the demands of the movement because of the sheer number and force of the people involved. Many other bus boy cotts. such as the famous one Montgomery Ala . were inspired and modeled by this effort By 1957 the spirit of the move ment turned to legal matters. Although segregation of public schools had been declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court in 1954, Little Rock, Ark was just beginning to desegregate its public: school system in 1957. In that same year, a Civil Rights Commission was founded by the government to investigate viola tions of the 15th Amendment, which provides for equal protec - tion under the law for all citizens of the United States The non-violent, yet direct actions of the movement did not bring success without serious backlash. As the new decade of the 1960s unfolded, blacks turned to the streets protesting peat e fully under the direction of lead ers like Martin Luther King |r Jailing. mating, and murder of such jmmi t'ful protesters erupted into a series of riots in Watts, « neighborhood in California. Detroit, Newark. N.J . and Wash ington, D.C. The predawn mur der of Him k Panther leaders in their sleep bv federal law* officers in Chicago in the 1060s dearly showed the great lengths to which racist factions of society would go to prevent black iilmr ation. Birmingham would be the 1963 site for a demonstration that led to the unleashing of dogs on the crowd of protesters Violence was becoming all too prevalent by the offii era lining the move ment's demonstrations Martin Luther King jr emerged ns the focused, pacifist lender for the Civil Rights Movement in America. Hv 1 did he had found ed the Southern Christian Lead ership Conference to further desegregation nationally and end poverty. He led a massive march on the nation's capital in 1963, opposed the Vietnam War and pushed hard for tin? liberation of his people King, a native of Atlanta, entered Morehouse Collide at the age of 15 under a special program for gifted students. He received bachelor's degree in 1948 In his senior year. King decid ed to enter the ministry During his studies he became acquaint ed with the writings ami works of Mohandas Gandhi's philoso phy of non-violence He studied theology at Crozer Theological Seminary in Chester, Pa. After graduating at the top of his class from Corzer, King earned his Ph.l) from Boston University in 1955 King married Coretta Scott, a native of Alabama, in 1953. The couple had four children. Trie 1955 bus boycott in Mont gomery, Ala was King's intro duction into the national spot light when the Montgomery Improvement Association chow him as its leader From that time on his idealism and dedication to the Civil Rights Movement never wavered In his lirst speech to trio group ho said, "We have no alternative hut to protest. For many years we have shown amazing patience We have sometimes given our white brothers the feel ing that we liked the way we were lieing treated Hut we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice. As a result of the work of Dr King and others like him Con gress passed the strongest Civil Rights legislations since the Civ il War in 1964 It was established laws mandating that equal rights would bo granted for all citizens in voting, education, public accommodations and in consid eration for programs that offer federal assistance. In December of DH>4 King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in Oslo, Norway 'Hie final Civil Rights Act was passed in 1968 guaranteeing equal housing, and real estate consideration to all. Although the year brought sol id change to the country, it was accompanied by a horrific loss. On April 4th, 1908 during a sj>«*H.h from a hotel deck in Mem phis, King was assassinated Tin* work of Dr King was not to lie forgotten, by the nation or by tile world. In 1988 Congress voted to observe a national hol iday in his honor, on the third Monday in January. However, even decades after the Civil Rights Movement began the slate of Arizona refused observe the King holiday. The persistence, patience and spirit of the Civil Rights Move ment was absolutely vital to the shedding of the network of oppression which dominated the United States in the {lost war era With the guidance and memo ry of a leader like King, we can recognize that a pacifist agenda for social reform is surely the only way to bring about success ful change. Heidi Ford is a freelance writer for the Emerald