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About The daily Astorian. (Astoria, Or.) 1961-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 2015)
OPINION 6A THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 19, 2015 MLK reminded Americans of a core value: equality ut e still don t have a level playing eld for all His message was S for all Americans — ‘I have a dream’ This is the conclusion of the speech delivered by the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., Aug. 28, 1963: I say to you today, my friends, frustrations of the moment 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 be self-evident; that I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my four little 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 today. I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor’s lips are presently dripping with the - cation, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day ev- ery valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plains and the crooked places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord set it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling dis- cords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work togeth- er, to pray together, to struggle to- gether, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. This will be the day when all of God’s children will be able to sing with new meaning: My country, ’tis of thee, Sweet land of liberty, Of thee I sing: Land where my fathers died, Land of the pilgrims’ pride, From every mountain-side Let freedom ring. And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodi- gious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let free- dom ring from the heightening Al- leghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snow- capped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curva- ceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. When we let freedom ring, 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 chil- dren, 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 Ne- gro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are lavery was the ticking time bomb of America’s Constitution. Thomas Jefferson knew it, when it awakened him and all mankind. bomb went off in the 1860s with the Civil War. Despite the Union victory and the 13th Amendment, America entered a long period of Jim Crow laws that made racial segregation a fact of life. It is still hard for us in 2015 to imagine an America in which blacks traveling in many states could not restaurants or restrooms. Part of the lore of every touring group of black musicians in the era was sleeping in their car. Widespread lynchings were also a theme. In a most damnable manifestation, black World War II veterans returned to a segregated nation. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., opportunity. Today’s Republicans continue to try to curb black turnout in elections by enacting AP File Martin Luther King Jr. visits with a family in Greenwood, Miss., in 1964. whose birth date we celebrate today, played a pivotal role in ending that era. His nonviolent campaigns throughout the South were captured on television. It led to a Southern president, Lyndon B. Johnson, moving a Civil Rights Act through Congress in 1964. That was followed by the Voting Rights Act. King ended a debilitating way of life. Just as slavery did not ennoble the slave owner, segregation corrupted the white people who enforced it. America in 2015 still does not Ironic that the party of Abraham Lincoln has become the party of a new Jim Crow era. Dr. King’s message was not just for black citizens. His message was for all Americans — and all mankind. It was a message about the basic promise our country makes to all kinds and classes of people. That promise of equality is the central promise of our democracy. King helped us remember it. We must never forget it. Wyoming family recalls James Reeb in civil rights movement meaning the movie had to start in a one-hour window. Around 35 members of the fami- By BRENDAN MEYER Casper Star-Tribune C ASPER, Wyo. (AP) — John Reeb stood with his cane in the hallway of the Iris Theatre, greeting those who walked into theater No. 3. Marie Reeb, James’ widow, who is now 85. Some were nervous. Some didn’t know what to feel. Leaning against the wall next to John was a large black-and-white photograph. It was of a young man with short, dark hair slicked to the left, rimmed circular glasses and a bow tie. Anne and her sister, Karen, had al- a Nov. 16 premiere in San Francisco. - nay, along with Oyelowo and Oprah, were also in attendance. “And all of a sudden I felt this hand The man was John’s father, James Reeb. Standing next to John were his daughters, Leah and Corrie. They were also greeting the friends, faculty members and locals whom they had invited to the Casper premiere of the Selma. The movie is about the civil rights Alabama, when Martin Luther King Jr. pushed for voting rights for blacks, culminating in a march from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. The family was at the theater be- cause James had played an important role in this history. A white minister raised in Casper, James was murdered by white su- premacists during the Selma protests. Word of his death spread worldwide pass the Voting Rights Act of 1965, prohibiting racial discrimination in voting. John Reeb, now 62, was 13 at the time of his father’s death, the oldest of James’ four children. - fore the 50th anniversary of the march. Its cast includes Oprah Winfrey and David Oyelowo (who plays Martin Luther King Jr.), along with an actor named Jeremy Strong, who portrays the slender man with short dark hair and circular glasses. “My grandfather plays a very small part in this movie, but to us, it’s really before the lights went down. “Just History James Reeb moved to Casper his freshman year of high school. He fell in love with the state and considered it his home. Reeb, whose last name was Rape tall and scrawny with crossed eyes. He was teased for these reasons, shap- ing his empathetic nature and drive for equality. He attended Casper College, where he met his wife, Marie, a Casper na- tive, and was ordained at First Presby- terian Church, where he ministered. He served in the Army, attend- ed school in Minnesota (where he changed his last name to Reeb), went T HE “She whispered over to me, ‘It was destiny. Your father being there was destiny.’ That just really hit home and The killing AP Photo/The Casper Star-Tribune, Ryan Dorgan Descendants of the late Rev. James Reeb, from left, great grand- daughter Samantha Lubenow, granddaughter Leah Reeb, daughter- in-law Noreen Reeb, son John Reeb, granddaughter Corrie Lubenow and great granddaughter Catlyn Lubenow, pose with his portrait the First Presbyterian Church in Casper, Wyo, where he was ordained. James Reeb was murdered by white supremacists during the Sel- ma, Ala., protests. to Princeton and settled on the East ministers and clergymen of all beliefs Coast, moving from New Jersey, to and races to travel to Alabama and Philadelphia, to Washington D.C., to march from Selma to Montgomery. Boston. “It didn’t take him much time to Over the years, he worked as a make up his mind that this was what pastor and minister, striving for equal rights for minorities. In 1964, Reeb moved “When he heard (of the family from Washing- what was going on in Ala- King ton, D.C., to Boston. He bama), he came home and took a pay cut and decid- basically told my mom, made a ed to join the American ‘This isn’t right what’s Friends Service Commit- speech tee, a Quaker organization in James white children in a school of a couple thousand. He lived in a town where cars were stripped and left to burn on the streets, where furniture was kept in the yard, where a man lived under their front porch. The Reebs lived in Boston for seven months. In March 1965, James heard Martin Luther King Jr.’s call for D AILY A STORIAN Founded in 1873 Private screening Anne Reeb is John’s low-income housing and Reeb’s younger sister. She was assisted children in receiv- only 5 years old when her ing good schooling. honor. father was murdered. “So my dad being my Anne, now 55, lives dad said, ‘I can only do my best work at this job if we live in the in California. Six months ago, she same area where we are going to be received a voice mail from Plan B Productions saying that Paramount moved (from the suburbs of D.C.) to Pictures had made a movie and that her father’s death was portrayed in the It was sensitive material, and Par- amount was willing to provide a pri- vate screening for the Reeb family in advance of the release. They scheduled the screening for Dec. 22 at The Rialto in Casper. The a locked box with a security guard at its side. It was on a timed hard drive, It happened in Selma on the night of March 9, 1965. James Reeb walked out of a cafe with two ministers at his side. They were met by four white su- premacists, who beat the three men with clubs, Reeb receiving the worst of the attack. Reeb died two days later from severe brain damage. News of his death spread worldwide. King made a speech in his honor. There were count- less memorials all across the country, including one at All Souls Church in Washington, D.C., where Reeb was an associate pastor. “I remember standing at the side door (of the church). I don’t know how I got there by myself, and then all of a sudden, here was (Vice President) John said. “I look up and go, ‘Oh, you’re Hubert Humphrey.’ We talked for a few minutes. He said, ‘Sorry to hear about your dad.’ Then Ted Ken- nedy came up to me. “I was in awe of the number of people that came, and the positions that they held. I just didn’t know they cared. I just didn’t realize one man would spark or would generate this In the days after Reeb’s death, re- porters camped outside his family’s Boston home. Men from the American Friends Service Committee guarded the door to keep the media away. President Lyndon B. Johnson con- tacted Marie to send his condolences in the country in a private jet. There was no sense staying in Bos- ton anymore. “So we said, ‘We want to go “I know the movie is not about my dad. It’s about a movement that hap- pened in 1965 for blacks in the South - STEPHEN A. FORRESTER, Editor & Publisher • LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager • CARL EARL, Systems Manager JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager • DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager SAMANTHA MCLAREN, Circulation Manager