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
-
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